Tangled Web
by XxKasumiAmuxX
Summary: A crummy event by the women's shinigami association. A stupid mistake by a fourth division officer. Trouble. When you least expect it. Sometimes, human festives are better left for the mind to wonder. Especially when those 'minds' belong to shinigami's.
1. A midget's orders

**Hi people! This is my first Bleach story that isn't a one-shot, I hope you like it! Please review and favourite and stuff cuz this story's going to be a wild ride! And yes this chapter is rather short so sorry! Enjoy **

If there was a time where Ichigo was absolutely terrified of the raven-haired girl, it was now. Rukia was standing a metre away from him. Her arms folded and vein throbbing on her head. He sat on his bed, staring at her.

"Um, hey Rukia... Are you okay? You look pretty m-"

"SHUT UP!"

A book flew across the room and slapped Ichigo in the face, Rukia huffed. The orange-haired boy slowly stroked his upper lip and felt a trickle of blood. His face shifted to anger.

"OI! You stupid midget! What the _hell_ was that for!?!" He hollered.

Rukia took a deep breath, trying to cool herself down. She was obviously trying to calm down her nerves. "You forgot didn't you? We're supposed to have lunch with Nii-sama today. Do you NOT remember?" Rukia questioned, If Ichigo said yes he obviously would never see the light of day again.

'Of course I remember." He lied- "I was waiting for you actually."

Rukia rolled her eyes, "Yeah right, I told you to meet me at Kisuke's place. He would be opening the gate to the Soul Society. I was standing out there for like... an hour!" Ichigo sighed. He hated it when she got mad. He was known for his attitude and short-temper but Rukia was his match.

"Well, I forgot about _that_. But the lunch obviously I remembered. But now I don't feel like going." He lied down on his bed and opened up a _manga_ book.

Rukia shot her arms out, "Why!?!" Ichigo glanced at her and looked back at his book, "I just told you I would go so that you wouldn't bug me." The raven haired huffed before cracking a smile. "Hey Ichigo, how would you like it if I told Nii-sama that you refused my orders and get him to come here?" The substitute soul reaper paused and turned to her. _"That's right. If the flower lover finds out I did not follow Rukia's orders he would senbon-zakura my ass!"_ Ichigo sighed and got up.

"Let me change and I'll meet you downstairs."

Rukia smiled, "I guess we're going to the soul society then"

**Sorry! I apologize for the really short chapter! I promise that the next one will be a lot longer!! There WILL be Hitsugaya and Hinamori (Don't forget about Byakuya!) in the next chapter. I CAN PROMISE YOU THAT!**


	2. Lunch With A Flower Lover

**Just to note, I'm pretty sure on the matchmaking results already, but if you have a suggestion then I'll take it (Like one from SnowKid) And if it's going to be Yaoi, then trust me I'll only use it if it's used as a joke or something. So yeah, I'm free in taking suggestion's but if it's for some other pairing that I have already decided then I'm sorry but I'm not changing (Like for example, I say Kenpachi and Yoruichi which is an EXAMPLE and you say Yoruichi and Hisagi that means I'm still sticking with my pair). Oh and this story is set after the Soul Society arc. Maybe during the Bounty, GAH I don't know because I don't watch the anime but read the manga. Anyways thanks for listening to me blab for a whole paragraph. Let us begin!**

Ichigo and Rukia sat in a large room. Both of them kneeling, Rukia was drinking a cup of tea while Ichigo's remained untouched. Now if you had just entered this room you would have found the atmosphere rather strange. While the raven haired was calm and serene, the orange haired boy... was not. Ichigo had beads of sweat rolling down the side of his cheek, he was breathing strangely. "Ichigo, calm down, what are you so nervous about?" He twitched, "Rukia, the last time I saw you're brother he was trying to whoop my ass to Kingdom Come." She sighed and continued drinking her tea. "You know Rukia... For some strange reason I can actually picture myself being kicked out of the Kuchiki house by four guards the size of Komamura." The girl twitched, deciding whether to knock some sense into Ichigo or to continue drinking her tea. She chose the second option.

"Kuchiki-san, Kurosaki-san, may I please come in?"

A young girl stepped into the room. At first glance you would've thought she was Barbie. She had blonde hair, flowing down her back. Her eyes were huge with a colour of emerald. She wore a usual kimono, a bit of flower patterns here and there. If Kon was here he would've attacked her by now.

"Oh, it's you Ayaka! What news do you need to tell us?" asked Rukia, raising an eyebrow.

The girl bowed and spoke, "Kuchiki-Taichou would like to inform you that he will be arriving soon." She stood up and smiled which Rukia returned. As she walked out the door she came to a sudden stop. Ichigo noticed this and raised an eyebrow. Ayaka turned and gave him a wink and quickly ran away giggling. The substitute shinigami sat there dumbfounded. The only movement he was making was his eye, which was twitching like mad.

"Man eater." Ichigo flinched and stared at Rukia, whose eyes were shut, acting as if thought she had not said a single word.

"You saw?"

"Every little flirtatious gesture."

"But you were being so nice to her!"

Rukia sighed and placed her cup down, staring at him with no emotion. "It's called _acting_ Ichigo, I would've thought you of all people would've known that. I mean, in school you act like you don't know me most of the time." She continued drinking her tea while Ichigo felt someone stamping a huge 'GUILTY' sign on his forehead. A strong reiatsu suddenly came crashing down on the pair. Rukia went wide eyed, "This reiatsu... this is..."

The doors slid open, a middle aged man stepped in. Wearing ornaments in his head, you could tell he was an aristocrat. A powerful one too, and one who no one dared to mess with. There was no doubt who this man was.

"Kuchiki... B-byakuya?"

"Nii-sama!?!"

"Rukia, Kurosaki Ichigo, we need to talk.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"HITSUGAYA-TAICHOU~~~"

A snow white haired captain twitched, slowly placing his brush back into his ink bottle. The 10th Division captain, Hitsugaya Toushirou, child prodigy. His vice-captain was slacking off again, he didn't know where the hell she went and now he's pissed. "Matsumoto... Didn't I tell you... to knock the bloody door before ENTERI-"

But instead of his huge chest vice captain bursting in with a face of glee, a petite girl entered, one who looked like she had not slept in weeks. "Hello... Shiro-chan." She croaked. Matsumoto stood behind her, she looked rather serious for the usual her. Hitsugaya stood up and stared at the younger girl.

"H-Hinamori?" he stuttered.

The girl nodded and gave a faint smile. Matsumoto sighed and scratched her head, "She insisted on me taking her here. She wanted to see you." She stared at Hinamori who was shifting uneasily. Hitsugaya sighed, _'She looks like she hasn't slept in days. Damn that Aizen...' _he thought, gripping his fist. Suddenly his vice captain yelled, "Enough with this gloomy atmosphere, we want to tell you something taichou!" He raised an eyebrow, eyeing her like she had done something incredibly wrong.

"We signed you up for the Women's Shinigami Association matchmaking event!"

Silence.

The two smiled at the captain, whose face was pretty hard to read. "Isn't it wonderful Shiro-chan?" asked Hinamori.

Silence.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Kenpachi was laying on the floor, bored out o his wits. His vice captain, Yachiru, was next to him, reading a magazine that she had asked Ichigo to get for her from the modern world. "Meh... No sign of any ryoka lately, I'm bored outta' my wits." He sighed. Yachiru placed down the magazine and stared at him. "But Ken-chan, I heard that Ichi's paying a visit to Bya-kun today. Didn't you hear? Baldy and pretty boy were talking about it." She picked up her magazine and flipped a page. Kenpachi's face lit up for the first time in the whole day.

"Really!? Then we better go pay flower lover a visi-"

"YOU SNOT-NOSED MORONS!!!"

Kenpachi and Yachiru jumped up. The whole ground was shaking, and Kenpachi liked it. "Ken-chan! This sounds like Whitey-chan!" Yachiru got up and jumped onto her captain's shoulder. He licked his lips slyly, "It smells like the little Einstein is pissed! Oh I can't wait to see what's happening..." In the background Hitsugaya's voice was booming, hollering a bunch of words which would've been illegal in the modern world.

"Come on Yachiru, we're gonna go and see what's going on."

Kenpachi zoomed out with Yachiru on his back, looking for an entertaining match.

* * *

"YOU BUFFOONS!" yelled Hitsugaya, slamming his fist on the table. Hinamori and Matsumoto sighed, for some reason they knew he was going to act like this. "YOU! Matsumoto! How many times have I told you not to sign me up for events organized by your stupid ladies club without my permission? Many a times hasn't it? And you Hinamori..." He slowly turned to his childhood friend. "Are you stupid enough to follow her?!? You should've stopped her!" Hitsugaya had never been this pissed in a while at her, it felt strange. "I'm sorry Shiro-chan." She apologized but Hitsugaya wasn't convinced.

"Apologizing isn't gonna help you go back in time and clear this mess up can it? Geez I wonder how Aizen was able to handle you."

He went wide-eyed and glanced at Hinamori. She looked hurt, as if though someone had pierced her heart. She nodded and turned, "I guess you're right Shiro-chan, I better get back to the 4th division sick bay before Unohana-taichou returns." Hitsugaya panicked, "Wait Hinamori! I didn't mean it, I shouldn't have mentioned him! Hinamori!" But she had already run out of the room. He gave a huge sigh, "Geez she's so sensitive." He ran his fingers through his hair, though he knew that he had been in the wrong.

"She's healing taichou." Matsumoto said, folding her arms and staring out the window. "I mean, how would you feel if you were betrayed by someone you admired?" she asked, shutting her eyes, thinking of a certain captain who had followed Aizen onto his journey to destroy the Soul Society.

'_Gin.... You always leave me, without saying a damn word.' _

She sighed and turned to her captain and squealed, "But does this mean that you forgive me?" she asked, staring at her captain who was not moving.

"MATSUMOTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

* * *

Byakuya and Rukia drank their tea, calm and serene. Ichigo tapped his fingers impatiently on the table. Minutes went by, and the two siblings were still drinking their tea. Ichigo twitched and lost his patience, "Oh my God, What the hell did you call us here for?!!" he yelled, Rukia sighed and rubbed her temples. Byakuya set down his tea and stared at Ichigo. "Well, in case you didn't know, the Women's Shinigami Association found out about your human festive called 'Valentine's Day' and decided to hold a matchmaking event for all members of the Gotei 13 including substitute shinigami's." He said and stared at the two across him.

"So I signed you and Rukia up."

Rukia dropped her tea and stared at her brother. Ichigo twitched and lost it, "YOU DID _WHAT_!?!?" he yelled, getting up and spilling his tea all over the table.

"YOU CRAZY FLOWER LOVING GIRLY HAIRED IDIOT!!!!" he hollered, Rukia sighed and slammed her head on the table. Byakuya sat there with no emotion, he snapped his fingers and four gauds the size of Komamura came in.

"Take him away."

The four guards nodded and grabbed Ichigo by the arms, "Hey! What do you think you're doing!?! PUT ME DOWN!! Hello?!?! Put me-" before Ichigo could finish his sentence the four guards kicked him out of the Kuchiki manor. Ichigo sat on the ground staring pathetically at the front door.

".... My prediction came true."

**WHAT A BORING CHAPTER!! Anyways yeah, matchmaking results in next chapter :D and before I go.... I SWEAR RACHEL GET KENPACHI OFF MY BACK HE'S BEEN HAUNTING ME!!! *whimpers* REVIEW~~ **


	3. The Results

**I really can't stop can I? I have two other stories which are still in the works and I'm completely ignoring them. But whatever, I enjoy writing Bleach stories. And yes, If you guys aren't happy with the matchmaking results than sorry keep it to yourself because I don't think I've ever gotten hate mail and I plan on keeping it that way ._. Anyways lets go~**

Ichigo sat on the pavement, waiting for the meeting that he was supposed to attend to finish. _'Rukia's been in there for an hour, what could she possibly be doing in there dammit.' _He ruffled his hair and laid down on the ground, staring up at the sky as birds flew by.

"Wow what a beautiful da-"

"OVER THERE KEN-CHAN!"

A huge figure had jumped over him; Ichigo's pupils went 45% smaller. He quickly got up and stared at the figure that had just jumped over him. It was Kenpachi Zaraki, Captain of the most sadistic and brutal squad, the 11th Division. The bells which were hung on the spikes shooting out from his scalp were jingling; a rather small child-like girl was on his shoulder, yelling directions at him. Ichigo had a wave of relief flow all over his body. Kenpachi was always trying to cross swords with him, and when he fought, HE FOUGHT. As soon as the sound of his bells softened, Ichigo laid back down and slowly closed his eyes. Almost immediately, he fell asleep.

_Ichigo glanced around, he was in a strange place. There were a number of color's spread all over the buildings around him; the sky above him was not blue but fuchsia pink. There were strange birds in the air, they had beaks the shapes of fishes and had a strange tint of purple in their eyes. Some had fish tails while other had rat ears. Some were covered with polka dots while others had stripes all over their body. Their wings were short and were transparent; they had tongues like what snakes had. Ichigo sighed and got up, looking around. There was a sudden white flash which zoomed pass him. He swung around to see Rukia in what appeared to be in a bunny costume running with a rifle gun in one hand. _

"_Hey Rukia! Where are you going?" yelled Ichigo, the so called Rukia turned around and yelled back, "I'm late for a meeting with the King!" He scratched his head, all of a sudden the atmosphere began to twist and morph. Ichigo jumped, where the hell was he? _

"_Kurosaki Ichigo." Said a stern voice, he turned and saw Byakuya sitting in a throne, he wore a crown, feathers sticking out from every direction. There were flowers swaying behind him, singing. 'Wait, flower's can sing?" Ichigo asked. _

"_You are charged for insulting the great King Kuchiki's flowers." Said a voice, it was Hitsugaya Toushirou wearing what might have been a tutu._

"_Toushirou!?! Why the hell are you wearing a ballerina outfit!?"_

"_That's Ballerina Hitsugaya to you, and this is because I am King Kuchiki's most beloved advisor." He nodded._

_Another figure came out, it was Abarai Renji, and he was wearing a tuxedo with a hat as long as a pole. "We hereby find you guilty." He took a huge box out of his coat, within the box was a huge red button. Ichigo twitched, he knew red buttons were bad. Renji pushed it and a huge door opened beneath Ichigo. He fell into it, and as he was falling, strange images and patterns were swaying around him._

_He was falling...._

'_Ichigo!'_

_Still falling..._

'_Wake up Ichigo!"_

_-.-.-.-.-.-.-_

"Ichigo!" BAM! He felt a huge blow to his head and jerked upright. Rukia was in front of him kneeling, staring right at him. "Hmph, it was just a stupid dream." He rubbed his head and asked.

"How long was I asleep for?"

Rukia scratched her head, "About half an hour, I've been trying to wake you up for about ten minutes." Ichigo nodded and got up, he told Rukia that it was about time that they returned to the human world. She agreed and they began walking.

"So what did Byakuya talk to you about?"

Rukia shrugged her shoulders, "Well, for the first couple of minutes he lectured me about controlling you after your outburst just now." He Snorted, "What am I, your personal pet? It's his fault anyways, signing us up for some stupid event." Rukia gave Ichigo a sudden glare, "Fool! You should be honored that Nii-Sama went through all that trouble of signing us up. It shows that he cares!" she hissed. As he was about to give her a smart retort a familiar voice called out their names.

"OI! ICHIGO! RUKIA!"

The pair turned to see Renji, running towards them. As he finally reached them he smiled, "So Ichigo, I heard the captain kicked you out of his house?" Rukia quickly jumped in between the two from preventing Ichigo from pounding Renji.

"Yeah, so what? Can you believe he signed me and Rukia up or some stupid matchmaking event?" He rolled his eyes and imitated Byakuya's Zanpaku-to.

"I am a pretty flower! I can spin and slice people without even touching them!" he twirled around and stopped while showing a face of disgust. Renji threw his head back and laughed, "HAH! I say you finally got what you deserved strawberry!" Rukia had to jump in between them once again.

"But... Renji, nii-sama told me he signed you up for it too." Renji's eyes widened, he turned and stared to run to the Kuchiki manor screaming like a mad man. Ichigo raised an eyebrow, "Did Byakuya really sign him up?" Rukia shook her head, "No, Rangiku-san did, she felt that he needs to get out more. I'm pretty sure she signed Hitsugaya-taichou up too." She shivered at the thought. Suddenly the two felt a sudden shimmer of sparks fall onto them. They looked up to see a Hell Butterfly, delivering a message.

"_The matchmaking event organized by the Women's Shinigami Association will be starting in ten minutes. The location will be in the hall where the Captain's hold their meetings. Yours truly, Retsu Unohana." _The hell butterfly flew away, continuing to deliver the message throughout the whole of Seireitei. Ichigo stared at Rukia who nodded, and with that, the pair sprinted off.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Rukia and Ichigo entered the hall; there were rows of chairs lined up. The front row occupied by Captains and Vice-captains, the row behind them occupied by lieutenants.

"Sorry Ichigo but I have to go to the front; you have to sit over there." Said Rukia, pointing to the row right next to them, which was all the way at the back. He sighed and sat down watching Rukia head towards her seat behind Jūshirō Ukitake, her captain. After what might have been five minutes the crowd in the hall silenced. Captain Unohana stepped onto the stage, smiling at the crowd. "Let's get to the results shall we?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

_(Five Minutes Earlier.......) _

The third seat of fourth division, Yasochika Iemura, sat on a chair next to a huge computer that seemed to be the machine that matched the shinigami of the gotei 13. Yasochika was writing down in what he liked to call his 'journal':

'_Dear Journal,_

_Right now Unohana-taichou has asked me to guard the machine for the matchmaking results. I am deeply honored, though I have no idea why she chose me instead of some other low ranked officer to do this job. _

His stomach started to grumble, _'That's right... I haven't eaten my lunch yet.' _He glanced around and saw a boy sitting in a corner, trying not to get into anyone's way.

"Hanatarou Yamada!" Yasochika yelled.

The boy jerked upright and ran to him, "Y-yes Yasochika-sama?" he stuttered uneasily. He got up and looked down at Hanatarou, "I want you to guard this machine while I go to get something to eat." He ordered, the smaller boy nodded and with that, the vain 3rd seat officer set off. Hanatarou quickly shuffled to the machine and stared at the pairs. He frowned as he scanned the names on the machine.

"Wow, most of these matchmaking results are rather.... wrong" he shook his head and smiled at two of the matchmaking pairs.

"Though there are no surprises between these two, everyone knows how much he wanted to save her after she was set for execution." He nodded agreeing with the choice. Hanatarou suddenly felt a huge whack to his back, his head slammed onto the keyboard of the machine. He looked up and turned to see two 4th division members laughing while running away. He sighed and turned back to the machine and gasped. There were huge letters on the monitor in bold.

**SWITCHING PAIRS**

Hanatarou began to panic, he had just switched two pairs on the machine, Unohana-taichou would never forgive him for that! He did the one thing he was possibly good at.

He ran.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"First up," Unohana took out a card from an envelope and read it happily.

"Jūshirō Ukitake and Nanao Ise."

The whole auditorium gasped, everyone knew how much Kyoraku the 8th division captain admired his vice captain, and how he was best friends with Ukitake. Ukitake went wide-eyed and turned to Kyoraku. His expression was unreadable, his lips were pursed, he looked like he was about to explode. Nanao twitched, she was sitting in between the two, and she didn't know what to say. Unohana tapped the mike, "Well anyways, moving forward, this next item is rather strange, though this is what the machine says." She took a deep breath.

"Soi Fon and Kisuke Urahara."

The whole auditorium burst out laughing, Soi Fon went red before exploding, "TE _HELL!?!_" she hollered, she began yelling at the top of her lungs before falling to the ground. A crowd gathered around her, "I think she's fainted." Said Mayuri, the others nodded. Unohana commanded a group of 4th divisions to carry her to the sick bay.

As more results were announced, the more people were screaming their heads off. Finally it was down to the last two. Unohana stared at the card and frowned, she obviously had a hard time believing who it was. Rukia prayed that it was at least with Ichigo, so it would be completely normal with no awkward moments. What she didn't know was that Ichigo was thinking the exact same thing.

"Well, the second last pair of today's matchmaking results is..." Unohana took a deep breath. "Kuchiki Rukia and...." Rukia was praying so hard her hands were red.

"Hitsugaya Toushirou."

Silence.

It was so quiet you could hear a pen drop. Hitsugaya went wide eyed, he quickly turned to Rukia who was staring straight back at him. _'Wait, so If I'm with Kuchiki who's with Hinamori?'_ he thought. Ichigo sat there pale; he did NOT want to know who he was with. Unohana opened the last envelope. She frowned once more and announced, "The last pair of today is Kurosaki Ichigo and..."

Everyone was eager to hear the results, while Ichigo was not. Unohana took a deep breath and said the name rather slowly.

"Hinamori Momo."

**Cliff Hanger much!?! Sorry if you're not happy with what I just did. Next chapter, THE REACTION :O And sorry if you guys didn't like some of the pairs I made, ****some were request while others were um... well the last two I was the one that came up with XD Anyways, Review, Fav, Subscribe :D**

**  
(Review Pwease)**


	4. Reactions and Memories

**Before we start, I would like to dedicate this chapter to a few people, AmuletMisty for being so awesome and reviewing every chapter, ****xX-mysterious-unknown-Xx** **for also reviewing every chapter and for finally getting Kenpachi off my back and Kicyslawa for reviewing every chapter! Thanks!**

The room was silent. The oddest thing that could happen is for a vice captain to be paired with a substitute shinigami. The amount of people in the room had eyes on both shinigami's. Hitsugaya stood up and yelled.

"YOU'RE KIDDING ME!?!?"

"HELL NO!"

He swung to the sound of a second voice yelling. At the far back, a tall, orange-haired boy standing, huffing like crazy, his frowning features were an eye catcher. "YOU!" he bellowed, jabbing a finger at Ichigo's direction.

"HYOURINMARU!"

"ZANGETSU!"

Before they both could unsheathe their sword, Unohana shun-po'd between them. "That is enough!" she ordered, Hitsugaya and Ichigo froze. Unohana was the kindest woman in the Soul Society, and if she got pissed, she was the scariest woman in the soul society. "G-gomen Unohana-taichou, but he tried to attack me." Apologized Ichigo, bowing, Hitsugaya gave Ichigo one of the deadliest glares that had ever existed. "You confounded little-" before Hitsugaya could finish his sentence, Rukia stood up and clapped her hands together, "Look at the time! It's already the end of the event! I'll be going now." She quickly walked to the door, as she passed Ichigo; she grabbed his collar and dragged him outside before shutting the door. The whole room stared at it, after a few seconds, a loud thump could be heard. The whole room sweatdropped as Rukia's voice was heard yelling.

"YOU IDIOT! What the hell do you think you're doing, drawing your sword in the presence of Unohana-taichou! Are you trying to get us all killed you uneducated baboon!"

"But Renji's zanpaku-to is a babo-"

"Oh for the love of god, SHUT UP!"

*After The Ceremony*

Hitsugaya exited the hall, looking for a certain girl, as his eyes scanned the crowd; he caught sight of a petite girl bumping into people.

"Hinamori!" He ran to her.

She gave a smile, a little more radiant than the one she had given him an hour ago. "Hello Shiro-chan! Wasn't that a rather interesting event!" she said, Hitsugaya stared at her and groaned, "You do realize, you're with Kurosaki, right? Have you seen his face, he looks like an angry gorilla?" Hinamori shifted, "Well, yeah, his face is pretty scary and all, but.... he did risk his life to save Kuchiki-san which you could tell is that he cares a lot for her, and his friends. So maybe, if I made friends with him, he wouldn't be so bad." She giggled; Hitsugaya stared at her in awe.

'_You're always trying to see the good in people Hinamori, people like Aizen... they shouldn't be given any chances.' _He thought.

As he looked up he recognized a rather small girl with raven hair standing next to a tall boy with flaming orange hair.

"Kuchiki! Kurosaki!" he called out.

Hitsugaya grabbed a hold of Hinamori's hand and dragged her to the two. As they finally reached them he stopped.

"Hey Kurosaki, I'm... really sorry for my outburst just now." He apologized.

"Of course you are." Ichigo muttered, causing him to get a kick in the shin from Rukia.

"I mean, I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have overreacted like that." He rubbed the back of his head before looking down at Hinamori. "So, you're Hinamori Momo right?" he asked. The girl gave a slight nod. Ichigo sighed and stretched out his hand, "Kurosaki Ichigo, nice to meet'cha, I believe you've heard of me before... the ryoka who nearly brought down the whole of Seireitei." Hinamori smiled and shook his hand.

"Ok, first off, why don't we try to get this date over with now and we won't have anything to worry about! Let's just go and walk around the Soul Society and get this over with." As Ichigo was about to march off, Hitsugaya and Rukia pulled him by the back of his collar, "Not so fast." Ichigo gagged and turned back to them. "What?" he asked, Hitsugaya and Rukia sighed and both said at the exact same time.

"You do remember that Unohana-taicou said that each date will be held on Saturday night, and we've all been given a card on to where and what we will be doing on our date. And, she has hired a spy to check on us once in awhile and if we are not with our date she will blow you to freakin' smithereens."

Silence.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, "Despite the fact that I should have started yelling at the top of my lungs the way you guys said the same thing at the same time scares the living crap out of me." Hinamori nodded in agreement. Hitsugaya rolled his eyes and faced Rukia, "So Kuchiki, they gave me the card on where our date should be." He whipped out a small card out of his sleeve and passed it to her. The color from Rukia's face faded. Ichigo raised a brow, "What? What's wrong?" he grabbed the card and for what might have been a long time, Ichigo began to burst out laughing.

The date was to a romantic restaurant with a dance floor. 

Hinamori herself giggled, the two laughed for a couple of minutes before looking up to find the two staring daggers at them.

"You think it's funny, eh, ICHIGO." Said Rukia in a rather deadly tone.

"How would you like to see your ass getting kicked HINAMORI." Hitsugaya threatened.

Ichigo and Hinamori stared at each other and gulped. Rukia sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "Well whatever, I don't really care. Though where are you and Hinamori fukutaichou going for?" she asked. Ichigo stared at the vice captain hoping that she had not taken the card for their date, but Hinamori sighed and whipped a card out of her sleeve and handed it to Ichigo. Rukia tiptoed and stared at the card before falling to the floor laughing.

The date was to a movie and bowling and a movie.

Hitsugaya decided not to ruin his cool image and just smiled. Hinamori whimpered while Ichigo ruffled Rukia's hair violently, "Shut up! This is not funny!" he yelled while Rukia continued to laugh like crazy.

-.-.-.-.-

The room was cold, probably because he IS the wielder of the strongest Ice Zanpaku-to in the history of the soul society. Hitsugaya sighed and rubbed his temples. It was currently eleven at night and he still had tons of paperwork to do. He opened his eyes and stared at the open window.

'_Kuchiki... How can I possibly go on some stupid date with her? I mean, I've only been with her for a few times.__ We barely know each other!"_

Hitsugaya sighed and leaned back on his chair, "I remember the first time I met that girl." He said to himself softly.

_~FLASHBACK~_

The newly promoted captain of the 10th Division was walking down the corridors. He was surprised when he received the news of becoming the new captain of the 10th division, he practically made history. Hitsugaya had already met most of the captains. He obviously didn't really feel comfortable around most of them (With Kenpachi always appearing out of nowhere demanding a fight and with Mayuri continuously pestering him on being one of his lab tests) there was one captain he hadn't met yet.

Kuchiki Byakuya.

He's heard that name many times before. The Aristocrat that everyone feared. Hitsugaya had wondered on what he might look like, obviously he hoped he wasn't as scary looking as the other captains.

He slowed his pace, realizing there was a new reiatsu, a strong one too. Hitsugaya stopped; an unfamiliar captain appeared from the corner. He stopped too. Byakuya looked at the boy and spoke, "You must be Hitsugaya Toshiro. The new captain of the 10th Divison." Hitsugaya gave a small nod, sweat was forming on his face. Byakuya nodded and stepped to the side.

"I'd like you to meet my adopted sister, Kuchiki Rukia."

A small girl shuffled forward, instantly bowing and said in a stern voice, "Welcome to the 13th guards Hitsugaya-taichou, My name is Kuchiki Rukia. If you need any help from nii-sa- I mean, Kuchiki-taichou you can always count on me to help you!" she was still in her bowing position. Hitsugaya scratched his head; he wasn't used to being addressed so formally.

"Uh... thanks Kuchiki, it's nice to you." He nodded.

Rukia straightened up and returned the nod. "Rukia stays here for awhile I need to deliver something to much as I don't want to." Byakuya muttered the last sentence rather softly before setting off to the 11th Division. Hitsugaya glanced at the girl in front of him nervously.

"So... you're from the 13th Division right?" he asked.

Rukia nodded. Hitsugaya sighed, _'This isn't gonna get us anywhere.'_ He continued, "Are you the Vice-captain?" The girl shook her head; Hitsugaya noticed that there was a hint of sadness in her eyes. "Oh, then who's the Vice-Captain?" Rukia looked up and paused before replying. "His name is Shiba Kaien. He was the vice captain of the 13th Division." The snowy haired captain raised an eyebrow, "_Was? _What do you mean by _'was'_?" She looked down and sighed, "Because I killed him." Hitsugaya's head shot up, "What!? What do you mean you ki-"

Before he could finish his sentence Byakuya had appeared next to them. "I'm back-" he turned to Rukia and nodded- "You can return to your division now. Rukia nodded and to Hitsugaya's surprise, she ran. Hitsugaya stared at Byakuya, itching to ask him about the man that she had apparently killed. His curiosity got the better of him.

"Kuchiki said that she killed a man by the name of Shiba Kaien, is that true?"

Byakuya stared at Hitsugaya and nodded slowly, "That is true. Rukia did kill the man Shiba Kaien, but not for the wrong reasons. The man lost control after he found out a hollow had taken the life of his wife. Angered, Shiba Kaien set off to look for the hollow with Rukia and Ukitake-taichou. The hollow overpowered him and Rukia was forced to stab him through his chest after he had been possessed by the hollow." Hitsugaya gaped, how much pain was this girl going through? He kept his mouth shut and stared at her brother pathetically.

"I apologize for asking you about it Kuchiki-taichou."

-.-.-.-.-.-

Hitsugaya rubbed his eyes, _'That girl sure is a mysterious one. I'm so sleepy... Maybe I should close my eyes... for a bit." _And with that Hitsugaya immediately fell asleep.

-.-.-.-.-

Rukia sat in Ichigo's closet, watching him pace up and down the room. "Why? WHY ME!?! Why does God hate me so?" he asked, stroking his chin. Rukia rolled her eyes and sighed, "He doesn't hate you idiot, and you're just overreacting as usual." Ichigo shot her a deadly glare, "I'm surprised you're not pissed by the fact that you're with Toshiro, could it be that you're in love with him?" Ichigo dodged a book that Rukia threw at him.

"Maybe we should give both of them a chance before jumping onto conclusions." She said in a serious tone. Ichigo rolled his eyes and stared at her. "Rukia, we're talking about Toshiro and Hinamori here, are you sure they're not insane or anything agreeing to this?" She laid down and sighed, "We don't have a choice Ichigo, if we did I would've hoped I was with you." Ichigo stared at her before quickly looking out the window.

I mean, the last thing he'd want Rukia to see was him blushing his face off.

Rukia raised an eyebrow before turning red herself, "I-i m-mean, It would be like all times where we go out hunting for hollows and stuff. You know, we always go to the shopping centre together, ALONE. So it doesn't make much of a difference and-"

"Rukia, please stop talking."

"I was going to stop myself anyways."

Ichigo and Rukia were both looking opposite directions, covering their faces with their hands. Both as red as a person could possibly get. Rukia decided to break the silence. "Uh, I'm pretty tired Ichigo, I think I'm gonna go sleep now..." Ichigo nodded and replied, "Me too, and whatever just happened will be forgotten. Promise?"

"I promise."

"Rukia?"

"Yeah?"

"... It's nothing. Just... thanks, for everything."

Rukia could have sworn she stopped breathing. What was Ichigo thanking her for?

Ichigo's blush went even redder, how corny was that? He thanked her for everything she ever did for him, including being one of the only people who could accept him for his inner hollow.

"U-uh, you're welcome. Good night Ichigo."

"Good night Rukia."

And with that the lights went off. The whole of the Kurosaki household was now asleep.


	5. It's Time For Some Shopping

**I know, I know, I update really slow, but don't blame me. BLAME MY SCHOOL FOR GIVING SO MUCH HOMEWORK D: This chapter is dedicated to ALL my reviewers, especially the ones who review all chapters :] Anyways hope you enjoy this chapter, as boring as it might possibly be.**

The only thing Ichigo could do right now was swear under his breath. He was woken up at eight o'clock in the morning by Rukia. She had suddenly just dumped the fact that they would meet Hitsugaya and Hinamori at the Karakura Shopping Centre for shopping and lunch. The fact that he and Rukia were supposed to go hunting for hollows seems to have been long forgotten. Rukia was next to him, searching the crowd for the two they were supposed to meet up with. After a few minutes a smile was dancing at the corner of the lips, at the middle of the crowd she was able to see a flash of silver white hair. There was no doubt on who it was.

Hitsugaya Toshiro.

And there was a small girl bopping behind him, confused. Hinamori Momo. Rukia grabbed Ichigo's hand and sprinted towards them. He had to apologize at least several times to strangers after Rukia had made him bump into them. They soon reached the two; Rukia exchanged a smile with the other girl.

"Good morning Kuchiki-san! Kurosaki-kun!" she greeted.

Rukia returned the greeting. She stared at the three people in front of her, "ok, here's the plan. For the first hour, me and Hinamori will go shopping for her outfit, you and Hitsugaya-taichou can do whatever crap that boys do these days." Ichigo twitched- "And for the second hour, Ichigo will follow me to buy MY dress, Hinamori and Hitsugaya can explore the mall while we do that. And for the last hour, we all eat lunch!" she nodded her head in approval. The others had no idea what she had just said, but they decided to just go along with it. Rukia grabbed Hinamori's hand, before she sprinted off she yelled, "MEET US BACK HERE IN AN HOUR!" Ichigo and Hitsugaya stared at each other before Ichigo broke the silence.

"We should get you your tux."

"What's a tux?"

"It's an outfit that makes you wear this thing called a 'tie' and it's the most uncomfortable thing ever. It will choke you and strangle you unless you undo your top button up." Hitsugaya stared at Ichigo for a few minutes before rolling his eyes. "Anyways, let's get shopping. I seriously wanna get this stupid outing over with." The two browsed through the shop lots, popping into a few along the way. That's when Hitsugaya stopped in his tracks. Ichigo eyed him suspiciously and followed his gaze. When he found it, he nearly jumped out of his shoes.

Hitsugaya was staring into a lingerie store.

The orange haired shinigami panicked; the sales women working in the store were staring at him and the rather short captain next to him suspiciously. Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow, "Kurosaki... What exactly is this store?" Ichigo pulled the side of his own collar.

"Um... How do I put this? Well... It's something that people have to wear."

"So does that mean that me and you have to wear it?"

"HELL NO! LOOK! WOMEN ARE WEARING THEM! DO YOU SEE A POSTER OF A MAN WEARING IT IN A TUTU OR ANYTHING?"

"No. So why do woman have to wear them? What exactly does it do?"

Ichigo slowly rubbed his face and sighed, "It's something to hold a women's chest from bouncing everywhere and it doesn't reveal their..... bosoms if, let's say, a dog rips their shirt off." Hitsugaya stared at him for a few seconds before walking into the store.

"OI! YOU STUPID MIDGET! WHAT THE _HELL _DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!"

No matter how loud Ichigo was yelling, Hitsugaya didn't seem to be paying attention. Ichigo gave up and decided to wait for whatever his shopping partner was doing in there. After a few seconds, Hitsugaya came out with a plastic bag. 

"What did you buy?"

"Whatever you call these things."

"WHY! YOU'RE NOT GOING TO WEAR THEM ARE YO-

"They're for Matsumoto."

"Oh."

Ichigo somehow understood what Hitsugaya bought the bra for Matsumoto for. Like, what would you do if you had a busty vice captain pouncing on you every single second of the day.

And she wasn't wearing a bra.

You would've thought he'd have several nosebleeds a day. But no, not Hitsugaya. He was too cool for that.

Ichigo sighed before walking towards the boy who was already twenty feet in front of him.

*......................................*

Rukia stared at Hinamori; she looked like she was having a hard time choosing her dress. Rukia sighed and walked up to her. "Why don't you get this dress?"She asked; pulling out a rather short and cute lilac dress, there was a shawl on top, something to wear when you were cold. Hinamori shook her head violently, "NO way! I'm not gonna be wearing a DRESS while bowling! Do you think I want Kurosaki-kun to be staring at my underwear when my dress flies over my head?" Rukia gave a small chuckle, "Good one, how about this?" A blue tank top with a cargo mini-skirt, Rukia had purposely chosen the outfit, knowing that Hinamori might have killed her for choosing another short outfit. The two went from store to store, looking through outfit to outfit.

Until they found the outfit they wanted.

It wasn't anything special, but it had a nice touch to it. Denim skinny jeans, with leather boots, a yellow t-shirt with a denim jacket on top, the sleeve reaching till your elbows. The two girls stared at it in awe, "It's beautiful!" Rukia sighed, all Hinamori could do was nod in agreement. The two grabbed it and shoved it onto the counter, making sure they got there before a middle aged woman (who was giving them the deadliest of glares) and yelled.

"WE WANT THIS DRESS PLEASE!"

The saleswoman stared at the two of them before nodding, "Give it to me." Hinamori and Rukia nodded, giving her the outfit. The woman scuffled for the price tag and scanned it, BEEP!

"That would be twenty four ninety."

Rukia nodded and gave her a twenty five and got back ten cents. Hinamori bowed, "Thank you Kuchiki-san." Rukia nodded. "I'm glad you like it. I wonder how the boys are doing?"

*................................*

"HOLD STILL!"

"YEOWCH!"

Ichigo was struggling. He was trying to pin the brooch on Hitsugaya's tux, but all he could do was wiggle and squirm. "If you don't want me to STAB YOU then HOLD. STILL." Ichigo was literally pinning him down to the floor.

"NO! I HATE SHARP THINGS! WHY THE HELL DO I HAVE TO WEAR THE DAMN THING!"

"BECAUSE IT MAKES YOU LOOK FORMAL!"

"I DON'T CARE!"

"Oh my god, WEAR THE DAMN THING! Or I'll pin the thing into your TONGUE."

Hitsugaya sighed and got up, brushing the dirt of his suit. "Fine, I'll take it, just take the damn thing and let me go."

"But first..... LET'S PUT THIS BROOCH ON YOU..."

"NO!"

_Stab! _

"YEEOOOOWWWW!"

Ichigo stared at a crouching Hitsugaya, "Jeez, you would've thought that a captain who gets himself on a daily basis would scream just by getting pierced slightly by a pin."

"THAT IS BECAUSE I AM IN A GIGAI YOU BUFFOON!"

Hitsugaya changed out of his tux and gave it to Ichigo who was waiting outside. They walked to the counter and had to pay forty seven dollars (FINE I KNOW ITS YEN BUT I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO CONVERT, YOU HAPPY? *sulks*), Ichigo gave the counter lady a fifty and got back three bucks. Hitsugaya coughed and rubbed the back of his head, "Thanks Kurosaki."

"No prob."

*........................*

Rukia tapped her feet impatiently. It was already 5 minutes past eleven, Ichigo and Hitsugaya were supposed to meet her and Hinamori here FIVE minutes ago. Hinamori shuffled her feet uneasily, "Maybe you should be a bit more patient Kuchiki-san, I mean... it's only been five minu-"

"GAH! Ichigo that dumbass, when I see him I'll shove this high heel so far up his ass it will come out of his ears!" Rukia threatened, Hinamori gave a small shiver.

Ichigo and Hitsugaya were finally found (after Rukia gave Ichigo several slaps in the face) and they switched Ichigo with Rukia and Hinamori with Hitsugaya.

*...............................*

Rukia's eyes shifted from store to store, searching for a sign of any fancy dress shop. Ichigo had to agree to follow or that would mean whacking three hundred and fifty tennis balls as punishment. After what might have been five minutes, Ichigo felt himself being pulled into a store. It was a dress shop (obviously), Rukia kicked Ichigo and made him sit down on a chair while she went into the changing room to change. As Ichigo waited a middle aged woman was eyeing him strangely. He was staring at her from the corner of his eye, after what might have been days; she made her way towards him.

"I'm sorry, my name's Yakashi Natsumi, I was just thinking how handsome you are! Besides the fact you're hair is orange. What's your name?"

Ichigo gave a loud gulp, "My names Kurosaki Ichigo. My dad owns the town's clinic."

Natsumi snapped her fingers, "AH! No wonder you look so familiar! Well anyways, I hope to see you more often when I go there for my monthly check up." She gave him a wink that made a shiver go down his spine.

Ichigo quickly got up and ran to the door where Rukia was in; he pressed his ear to it.

"_Rukia! Are you in there? Answer me!"_

"_What is it you nimrod! I'm changing!"_

"_I think I've just been a victim of a cougar attack!"_

"_A... WHAT!"_

"_COUGAR. It's when an older woman hits on a younger man."_

"_Yes yes I know what it means! But why? HOW?"_

"_This middle aged woman just came up to me and started telling me about how handsome I am."_

"_You? Handsome? Please Ichigo don't make me laugh."_

"_I swear you stupid midget, when you come out I'm gonna strangle the spiritual pressure outta' you..."_

Natsumi stared at Ichigo as he was seen quarrelling with someone inside the door. She raised an eyebrow before seeing him back away from the door. It swung open and that's when a raven haired girl came out. Wearing a short strapless dress, it was slightly above her knees. It was black, completely black; there was a flower pattern at the side of her dress, dancing around the corners. She was wearing high heels, the straps zigzagging all the way to her knees. She was wearing a crystal necklace, a few smaller ones dangling on the sides. Ichigo stared at her before turning bright red. He looked down, making sure that she didn't see. Natsumi smiled, _'Ahh, young love'_ she giggled to herself before turning on her heel and walking out the door. Rukia shot her arms to the side, "So, what do you think?" Ichigo shook his head.

"It's too short."

Rukia gave him a solid punch at the top of his forehead. "You insensitive moron. Seriously, is the dress OK?" He shook his head again, _"It's better than ok, it's beautiful."_He thought but didn't there say it out loud.

"Well I'll take that as a yes, ok I'm buying this!"

Rukia ran to the counter and waited for Ichigo to pay for the highly expensive dress.

**END OF CHAPTER! I know I know, I didn't write what happened with Hitsugaya and Hinamori or what happened when they ate lunch together, but don't worry, you'll get to know about it next chapter, which will be... *DRUMROLL* HITSUGAYA AND RUKIA's DATE! Anyways, please review! AHAHAH BYE (REVIEW) I would've written more but it's 12 in the morning and I have to study for my exams ahahha.  
**


	6. A Frosty Iced Date

**PHEWW, Chapter six! This was tiring; it's really hard to capture how Hitsugaya and Rukia act towards each other. I mean, they've only really interacted in episode 265, which was FILLER. But I hope I was able to do a good job. Dedicated to all my friends especially the ones who did stuff for me on my birthday ;)**

Rukia was sitting in the living room. She was sitting down on a long coach and was staring at a bright haired boy who was across the room. He was sitting on a stool, staring at her too. She was sitting uneasily in the dress she had just bought this afternoon.

"I don't think I'm ready for this Ichigo."

"Neither am I."

Hitsugaya was arriving in approximately ten minutes. He was going to pick Rukia up for their 'date'. She wasn't prepared, this felt like the first time she was arranged to meet up with Byakuya. Ichigo knew this, his first time meeting Byakuya , he actually stabbed him in the gut. Literally.

Speaking of Byakuya.....

"Hey Rukia... do you know who your brother got paired up with?"

Rukia had a strange expression on her face and answered rather strangely.

"Yachiru-fukutaichou."

Ichigo nearly gagged on his own saliva. YACHIRU? Kenpachi's assistant captain Yachiru? The small little pink haired girl who would burst into Byakuya's house demanding for candy?

Oh how he wished he could've seen how _that_ date went.

The bell rang the both of them nearly jumped out of their chairs. Rukia panicked and ran up the stairs.

"Hey! Where'd you think you're going?"

"I haven't done my hair yet!"

Ichigo sighed and walked to the front door. He unlocked the doorknob and pulled the knob open. Hitsugaya was standing there, in the tux that he and Ichigo were searching for that afternoon. He still had the pin mark on the side of his cheek.

"Evening, Kurosaki."

"Same to you, Toshiro."

Hitsugaya slipped into the house, "Where's Kuchiki?" he asked, Ichigo made a gesture that she was in his room. The captain understood this and nodded. The substitute shinigami brought him to the living room.

"Is this where you live?"

"Yeah, it's sorta small, but it's ho-"

"DID YOU JUST CALL THIS HOUSE _SMALL_ BOY!"

Hitsugaya went wide eyed as a middle aged man came flying through the door, elbowing Ichigo right in the face. The man stood up.

This was Ichigo's father, Kurosaki Isshin.

"Is this boy Rukia-san's date?"

Isshin eyed Hitsugaya suspiciously. Ichigo got up and rubbed a trickle of blood that was sliding down his cheek. "Yeah, dad, this is Hitsugaya Toshiro. And after this whole thing finishes I'm going to kick your ass for what you just did." Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow, was this how fathers and sons interacted in the human world? Or was this just Ichigo? Isshin gave a dumbass smile and turned to Ichigo, "Be a good boy and fetch us some drinks and refreshments! This young boy obviously had to go through a lot for asking a older woman out on a da-

"ME AND KUCHIKI ARE THE SAME AGE!"

"Oh. I knew that."

Ichigo rolled his eyes and headed to the kitchen; Isshin stared at Hitsugaya and had a suddenly different expression then what he had a few seconds ago. "I'm surprised that a boy your age was able to achieve captain status. You must really be bright." The snowy haired captain was glued to the floor.

"S-sorry? Captain? Ahaha, You must know on how I'm captain of the school's student council-"

"I know you're a shinigami. A captain too."

Hitsugaya had beads of sweat forming at the side of his face. "H-how? Who are you?" Isshin smiled.

"My name is Kurosaki Isshin."

"K-Kurosaki Isshin? I know you! You're the legendary-"

Isshin shushed Hitsugaya as Ichigo had just entered the room. Hitsugaya understood the fact that Isshin had not yet told his son he was a shinigami. A captain as it is.

"WELL! I'd be leaving now! Need to do some paper work! SEE YOU~" Ichigo's father jogged out of the room, singing a soulful tune. Ichigo rolled his eyes. "I have a weird family." Hitsugaya shook his head, "They're less normal than you think." The orange haired boy stared at him suspiciously before deciding to drop the topic.

"Ichi-nii, Rukia-chan said she will be coming down in a bit." Said a young girl, popping her head into the door. Ichigo nodded before catching Hitsugaya staring at Karin.

"Kurosaki?"

"Toshiro!"

Hitsugaya stood up and walked towards her, "Wow! I didn't think I'd see you again." Karin nodded, "Same here. What are you doing here?" she asked, the boy shook his head. "I'm taking Kuchiki out on a date." Karin snapped her fingers, "Oh! So you're the lucky guy taking her on a date." She leaned in and whispered to him softly, "Be carefully Toshiro, if you get Rukia hurt in any way, my brother will kick your ass. He loves her." Karin quickly ran out of the room as Ichigo was preparing to take off his shoe and throw it at her. Rukia soon walked in, her hair clipped up with a flower clipped near her bangs. Both Ichigo and Hitsugaya couldn't help but think on how beautiful she looked.

"So... should we get going?" asked Rukia, snapping the two boys out of their trance.

Hitsugaya nodded, "But first we need to stop by somewhere." The raven haired girl raised an eyebrow.

"To where?"

"You'll see."

Hitsugaya was out of the door in what might have been three seconds. Rukia rolled her eyes and hopped on after him. Ichigo was left in the room, dumbfounded. He sighed and sat back down, waiting for the time to reach 7:30, where he would leave to pick his date up as well.

*..................*

Hitsugaya and Rukia were standing outside an apartment door. Rukia sighed, "Uh.... Hitsugaya-taichou? Just wanted to know and all but... where are we?" Hitsugaya just glanced at her and stared straight back at the door. He knocked on it a few times before the sound of footsteps were heard heading towards the door. It opened; a bright haired girl was there with a bubbly expression.

"Oh! Toushiro-kun! Hello! I'll go and get Rangiku-san, be right back."

Rukia raised an eyebrow, "What are we doing at Inoue's place?" Hitsugaya stared at her and blushed before saying, "Don't ask, whatever is about to happen, I was FORCED to do this." He began swearing under his breath and left Rukia confused. Matsumoto suddenly burst through the door, carrying a present in her hands.

"GOOD EVENING KUCHIKI-SAN!" shoving the present into Rukia's hands.

Rukia stared at it and read the card attached to it.

'_Dear Kuchiki,_

_First things first, I was FORCED to buy you this by stupid Matsumoto, so don't go bragging to the whole of seireitei that I got you something. Got it? ESPECIALLY KUCHIKI-TAICHOU, I'd be long gone for this ok? Thanks. I don't care whether you like it or not, just don't tell anyone._

_-Hitsugaya Toushiro_

Rukia twitched, _'He's so kind.' _She sarcastically thought. Hitsugaya stared at her before mumbling, "The cards all me, Matsumoto bought the present. Go on, open it." Rukia ripped the gift wrapping and stared at the gift.

'A Dummies Guide To Drawing Well'

If Matsumoto and Hitsugaya weren't a captain or vice-captain, she would've frozen their asses. Her drawings aren't good? How can that possibly be? She decided to let it go and cracked a smile.

"Thank you Hitsugaya-taichou, Matsumoto fuku-taichou. We better get going."

Hitsugaya nodded, Orihime stopped Rukia and whispered into her ear. "Kuchiki-san... do you have any idea on who Kurosaki-kun is going out with?" Rukia raised an eyebrow, "Ichigo? Well he is going with Hinamori fuku-taichou in about half an hour." She answered, Orihime nodded and smiled. Rukia scratched her head, why was Orihime asking about Ichigo? Maybe she's just curious. Hitsugaya grabbed Rukia's hand, "Come on Kuchiki let's get this thing over with." Matsumoto and Orihime stared at the two as they set off for their date.

"Don't worry Orihime, Ichigo and Hinamori couldn't possibly fall in love in such a short amount of time."

The younger girl sighed, "It's not the feelings I have for Kurosaki-kun that matters, it's their safety."

Matsumoto nodded, "You don't have to worry about Ichigo either, he's a rather strong kid." Orihime shook her head.

"It's not Kurosaki-kun I'm worried about, it's Kuchiki-san." The older woman raised an eyebrow before giving a sigh.

*.........................*

Hitsugaya and Rukia were sat down at a table. A candle was lit at the centre; they both were reading the menus.

'_What the hell is this thing? They just have names everywhere! What, am I supposed to read them? Does this mean that this whole date is filled with READING?' _thought Hitsugaya. Rukia however, was already asking the waiter for something called 'T-bone steak' and he had no idea on what the hell that was.

"Hitsugaya-taichou, when was the last time you've been to a restaurant?"

"Um... I've never really been to a restaurant in twenty years."

Rukia went wide eyed, "_twenty_? Ichigo's not even that old yet! Whoa, Ok I have to help you on this." Rukia carried her chair and placed it right next to him. She took the other side of the menu in her hands and explained, "You see, this is a menu. In the human world people use this to ask for the food they want. There are many different type of varieties. I didn't get this thing either until Ichigo took me out for dinner one day and showed me, I've never seen him that hungry before..."

Hitsugaya was staring at Rukia; she was rather close to him. He shook the thought out of his head and asked, "So whatever you see here, you just ask for it and it comes?" The girl nodded, "I remember you weren't here when we were ordering this afternoon. No wonder you have no idea on how to work this thing. Ichigo was able to teach Hinamori though." Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow, "Do you remember what I ate at the mall? What was it? Fish and..." Rukia smiled, "Fish and chips! Sure we can order that, in fact I think I'll have that instead of the steak." She waved her arm in the air and a waiter came, "Uh yeah, we'd both like to have Fish and Chips for our dinner." The waiter raised an eyebrow, "I'm sorry but... children below the age of ten are not allowed to order from the menu."

Silence.

Rukia and Hitsugaya practically yelled the whole place down, "WE'RE BOTH FIFTEEN!" The waiter stared at them and nodded before walking away. The boy ran his fingers through his hair. "Thanks Kuchiki." Rukia smiled and they both slumped into their chairs staring at opposite directions. There was a sudden change of atmosphere, couples were stepping onto a huge empty space in the restaurant, and music was playing. They were all swaying, laughing as some of them bumped into one another. Hitsugaya was staring at them, "I bet their all drunk." He said to himself quietly, he caught a glimpse of Rukia staring at them, deep in thought. She had her hands cupped in her chin. She remembered rather well when she first learned to dance.

*..............................*

"_You've never danced before?" exclaimed Ichigo in a rather shocked tune. Rukia went red as a tomato and retorted, "So I haven't! You don't get much time to enjoy life when you're out saving the lives of innocent people every day you know."The orange haired boy smiled and brought his hand up, "I'll teach you." Rukia stared at him in disbelief before shaking her head violently. "No, absolutely not, I'm not going to make a fool out of myself." Ichigo chuckled and pulled her by the hand. "Come on you little munch kin, this will come in handy one day." Rukia looked up as Ichigo swayed her around the room, she had never danced before but for some reason she felt like she had been dancing for millions of years. No, it wasn't that.  
_

_Ichigo was just a good dancer._

_Rukia smiled. "Who taught you how to dance, Ichigo?" the boy suddenly frowned, "My mother, she used to sway with me around the room, I really miss those days." She nodded, trying not to go into the topic of his mother again. Rukia slowly loosened Ichigo's grasp and looked at him. "Thanks, I think I know how to dance a bit now." He nodded and smiled, "I'm glad you do, just in case I ever ask you to dance with me ever again."_

_*.........................*_

Rukia sighed, how she wished she was with him now. Hitsugaya broke the silence, "Thinking of Kurosaki?" she jumped up and stared at him, "Thinking of Hinamori?" they both stared at each other and blushed. He shook his head, "No, I was thinking of how you look so deep in thought." He stood up and raised his hand out, "Come on, I'll dance with you." Rukia went completely red, "Me? Dance with YOU? A captain, hah fat chance of that happening." Hitsugaya got rather annoyed. "Come on Kuchiki, get up and dance, that's an order!" Rukia grumbled and stood up, dragging Hitsugaya to the dance floor, she placed his hands on her hips and shoulder rather violently, they both began to sway to the music. Hitsugaya stared at Rukia suspiciously, "Who taught you how to dance, Kuchiki?" the girl kept quiet for a bit and said, "Ichigo taught me how." Hitsugaya smirked, he figured as much. "Pfft, well obviously, anyways I've never really danced before. I'm just following your movements." They danced for awhile (With Hitsugaya accidentally stepping on Rukia's toes from time to time) before their food arrived.

"I'm hungry let's go eat." Said Hitsugaya, Rukia nodded and they both sat down.

Rukia quickly grabbed her cutleries and dig into her fish, the boy stared at her with a scared expression. Hitsugaya and Rukia ate in silence.

"What's your relationship with Kurosaki?"

The girl nearly choked on her fry, she stared at Hitsugaya, "What's your relationship with Hinamori?" they both blushed once again. Hitsugaya decided to go first, "Me and Hinamori are just really close friends. That's it. Enough said." Rukia went next. "Ichigo... he was the only person who was able to make me forgive myself to what I did to Kain-dono, he saved my life and I changed his world. Our bond is strong I guess." Hitsugaya was silent. She seemed like a happier person now then their first meeting now that he thought about it. He smiled quietly to himself. And with that, they both continued eating in silence.

**You know, I BET I'm not going to get much reviews for this chapter. I don't know why I just feel like I won't, it was poorly written, nothing much happened and it was rather boring. (Sigh) oh well, I hope whoever reads this DOES review though. I really want to hit my 40 reviews mark T-T maybe more I don't really mind :D Hope you review! PLEASE. O.o and next chapter, HINAMORI AND ICHIGO'S DATE! ~REVIEW!~**


	7. The Peach and the Strawberry

Ichigo got up as the door bell rang. Hinamori was right on time, which was rather hard to believe for Rukia never, did that. He opened the door; a small girl was standing in front of him. It was Hinamori Momo, in the outfit she and Rukia had bought earlier that day and, for the first time, she had let go her hair, it was straightened. Ichigo rubbed his head, "Hey Hinamori, come on in." She entered the house, looking around. She turned to Ichigo and asked, "Is this where you live?" He gave a nod which Hinamori returned. "Anyways, I better sort Kon out just in case he gets into mischi-"

"IS THIS YOUR DATE BOY!"

Hinamori gasped as a middle aged man came flying through the kitchen door, giving Ichigo a good kick in the face. The boy tumbled backwards, as he landed face flat on the ground, the man stepped on the back of his head.

"Why did you not tell me she had arrived? Were you trying to hide her? Tsk tsk you big idiot!"

The girl gulped as the two were soon engaged in a blood fest, kicking each other and punching. Ichigo got up when he had finally trapped his father in an arm wrench. "You sick punk, what kind of father does that to his own son?" Isshin was obviously having trouble breathing. He gave a thumbs up and said, his voice muffled, "Good job son! You're getting stronger by the day!" Ichigo let go of his grip on his father and grumbled. Hinamori laughed nervously and caught the eye of a young girl staring at her.

"Um.. hello?"

"Whoa, you're Ichi-nii's date? You're hotter than I expected. The stupid dummy finally did something right."

Hinamori raised an eyebrow, "I'm sorry but who might you be?" the girl folded her arms, "I'm Kurosaki Karin, Ichi-nii's little sister." Hinamori smiled, "Oh! Are you the girl Shiro-chan talked about? It's so good to meet you!" Karin raised an eyebrow. 

"... Shiro-chan?"

"Oh, yes, sorry I meant Toushiro."

The younger girl stared at the other blankly, after a few seconds she started laughing until there were tears in her eyes. "God, I seriously have to remember that name the next time I see him." Ichigo grunted and grabbed Hinamori by the arm, "Come on, let's go." Before they could walk out the door, Isshin stopped them. "Hey Ichigo, could I tell you something?" The man brought his son away from the girl and whispered something into his ear. Ichigo twitched and they both started arguing until Isshin said something about sneaking into Rukia's bed which led Ichigo to snap his mouth shut. The orange haired boy took something from his dad's hands and marched to Hinamori, his face red. 

"Here, take this, I had nothing to do with it, the sick pervert over there asked me to." He tossed something at her and she caught it. In her hands was an orchard on a pin, at the side was a small peach. It was a corsage.

"Is this for me?" she asked, Ichigo nodded.

"Yeah, my dad's ideas so don't get your hopes up." 

Hinamori gave a little smile, there was a flash. The two stared at Isshin who was carrying a camera, "Come on you two! Give us a smile! Especially you, my failure of a son." Ichigo grabbed Hinamori and pulled the sides of her lips, forming a frown on her face. At that exact moment, her father took the picture.

"YOU BOOB! THAT THE ONLY FILM LEFT! YOU'VE JUST WASTED MY MONEY! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Before his father could give him yet another flying kick Ichigo grabbed Hinamori by the hands and ran. After his house was out of sight he slowed down.

"Jeez, I'm sorry 'bout that my family's filled with weirdoes." He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. Hinamori giggled and shook her head.

"Of course not! You're lucky you actually have one. When I was young, the only family I had was Toushiro and his grandmother, no one else. You're pretty lucky you have your own." She smiled. Ichigo stared at her, _'She sure is... different.'_ He thought. "Come on lets go, we'll be late for the movie if we don't." Hinamori stared at him and smiled, "Right." 

'_I guess I was right, Kurosaki-kun is a nice person pass that scary frown, this date might not be so bad after all.'_

_~...~_

The queue to buy the movie tickets was long. Ichigo sighed in relief that he bought the tickets in advance in the afternoon with Hitsugaya. There was only one movie that was available.

Titanic, 3-D.

The worse possible movie he had ever watched, but that was a guy thing. He brought Rukia to watch it, she didn't cry, she just said that it was sad and forgot the whole movie in a span of two hours. Hinamori was now asking him why there was a ship on the poster and a strange man and woman making funny poses. The movie theatre was a few doors down. Ichigo gestured Hinamori into it and they looked for their seats.

"Here we are, I bought you popcorn." He said passing her a bag filled with little bits of food. She raised an eyebrow, "What is this?" she asked. Ichigo stared at her, "They don't have popcorn in the Soul Society? Jeez how can people live without this? Well anyways, popcorns a food you eat when you go to the movies. Without it well, you'll get hungry. Try some." He passed her the bag, still munching on the unknown food in his mouth. Hinamori stared at him, her eyes shifted to the bag in his hands to Ichigo. She took a small piece and popped it into her mouth. Her face lit up, she took another bite, and another. Ichigo smirked, "I'm guessing you like it." Hinamori nodded and continued eating. They both continued to share the bag of popcorn until the room went dark, the huge screen in front of them lit up and the movie started.

The substitute shinigami caught a glance at the vice captain, she was wide eyed, examining the screen; she had never seen anything like this before. Ichigo leaned in and whispered, "You excited?" the girl looked at him, "Sort of, I've seen these screens in the Soul Society sometimes, but I've never seen one this huge!" she popped another popcorn into her mouth. The boy sat back and closed his eyes for a few minutes before he felt someone pocking him at the side.

"Kurosaki-kun, are you trying to sleep?" Hinamori was the one poking him; she was having a rather accusing face on her.

"Oh, um, well yeah I am, sorry I'm just not a huge fan of this movie." He replied, sitting back up. She cocked an eyebrow, "Why? Is it boring? If you don't like it then why did you buy the tickets for this movie?" Ichigo rubbed his head, "Well, you see, this was the only movie available and that wasn't eighteen plus. To tell you the truth I would've wanted to watch _Kick-Ass_ but the last time me and my friends tried to sneak into an eighteen plus movie we got OUR ass kicked out of the theatre. Anyways, another reason is that since you're a girl an all, you'd probably want to watch some girly assed movie or something so I bought this instead." Hinamori stared at him and smiled, "That's a rather sweet thing to do Kurosaki-kun, thank you." Ichigo shook his head, "Don't mention it." And with that, the movie started, they both placed on their 3-D glasses and the two sat in silence.

*...*

He was staring at the girl, throughout the whole movie so far, she had not shown a twinge of emotion. She just sat there, staring at the screen, engrossed in it waiting to see what happens next. Ichigo on the other hand, was drinking his soda rather loudly (which led to a couple of death glares from couples around him) and he was texting Rukia on his cell.

'_Hey midget, how's ur date coming along'?_

He waited for a span of three minutes before getting a reply back.

'_Hey STRAWBERRY, mine's fine, we just finished eating and we r going for a second round of dancing, I thought him how to dance. Thanks to u surprisingly. Hitsugaya-taichou's a rather interesting person to be with, We actually talked when we were eating, which is rather surprising. We also ordered desert, the food here's rather lovely. How's urs?_

Ichigo felt a twinge of annoyance as he read the part where Rukia said they went dancing and when she called him strawberry but replied.

'_Mine's fine, we r in the theatre watching Titanic. Bleh. It's still the same boring crap. Hinamori's actually pretty different to the others girls. She acts like Inoue but she just doesn't have that same aura as her, Hinamori has a stronger one. Oh and what did you 2 talk 'bout?_

He sat back and waited another few minutes for a reply, the reply he got back was a rather strange one.

_Uh... nothing, u know, just... stuff. Aura? What kind of aura does Inoue give off eh, Ichi? Oh if I don't reply then that means me and Hitsugaya-taichou went off 2 the dance floor already, he's right next 2 me now watching me text. He says hi._

Ichigo's face shifted, _'Dang, I just had to say aura.'_ He thought before giving a reply, a rather smart one at that.

_Oh tell him I said hi 2, and also tell him how a little boy shouldn't be such a busy body looking at other peoples messages. And well... u know that aura Inoue has, Bubbly? I mean, not that Hinamori isn't bubbly cuz she's a real cute character but AH I don't know how to explain. AND DON'T CALL ME ICHI OR I'LL CALL U RUKI _

He chuckled as he imagined all the type of replies he was going to get back from her. After ten minutes, he got a reply back.

_D: *gets Kenpachi* CALL ME RUKI AND I'LL KILL U! Btw Hitsugaya-taichou nearly killed my phone after he saw u call him a little boy and he also says that if u make Hinamori bleed he'll kick your butt. AND SERIOUSLY IF U CALL ME RUKI I WILL CALL KENPACHI TO HUNT DOWN UR SOUL BUAHAHAHHAHAHAHA_

Ichigo nearly gagged on his popcorn, this girl was serious trouble.

_o.o DON'T U DARE CALL HIM, IF U DO I'LL STEP ON UR LITTLE MIDGET HEAD. If u call him I'll call your dear nii-sama and tell him what you did when my dad got you drunk :]_

The time his dad got Rukia drunk, he had to chase her down the street for she was yelling how she wanted to be a free woman and she was going to take her clothes off. Luckily he was able to pin her down before she could do any of that stuff. His phone vibrated again, Ichigo picked it up and stared at the message.

_NO! DON'T U DARE! Cuz of what u just said Hitsugaya-taichou forced me to tell him what I did when ur dad got me drunk and he's been laughing for the past 5 minutes, when I told him what I did he was drinking his coke and he actually spit it out onto the table. All I can say is that the stain will take a rather long time to go away ._._

He smiled, Rukia actually got Hitsugaya to laugh. He texted back after Hinamori asked him a question about what a 'buoy' is.

_Heh, tell him that if my dad got him drunk he'd probably imagine he was Michael Jordan *hides behind my mother's grave* And don't worry I won't tell Byakuya what u did cuz he'd senbonzakura me for letting my dad get u drunk._

The minute he sent the text, Hinamori was tapping him on the shoulder.

"Kurosaki-kun, you're not allowed to use your hand phone in the cinema! Who are you talking to? Kuchiki-san?" she asked.

"Yeah, and Toushiro, they say hi. You want me to tell them anything?" he asked, she nodded, "Well yes tell them I said hi and I hope their having a great time. Oh, and tell them that you're a really fun person to go out with and maybe if Toushiro ever became gay you could take him out and show him what gays do in the human world." Ichigo had to restrain himself from laughing but smiled and took out his phone as it vibrated again.

_Good, if u do I'll tell ur dad about Matsumoto-fukutaichou. Oh and Hitsugaya-taichou says that the next time he see's u he will make sure he shoves Kon so far down your throat it'll come out of your butt XD_

He laughed nervously; he definitely didn't want to see Hitsugaya for a year or so.

_Tell him that I'll not be bumping into him for awhile. Oh Hinamori says this:  
Hi guys! I hope you're having a great time and all; Kurosaki-kun's a really fun person to go on a date with so if you ever become gay Toushiro you can go out with him and he'll show you what gays are like in the human world._

_Her words not mine btw.*Continues laughing butt off_

When he sent the text he turned to Hinamori and whispered, "I just told them what you told me, if Toushiro comes after you then it was NOT my fault." Said Ichigo, raising his hands to form an 'X', the girl giggled before giving a small nod. He took out his phone and read the new message he got from Rukia.

_Ow. Sorry, my ears hurt after I had him scream in my ear and now he's mumbling about blasphemy and stuff. Oh I gtg we're going dancing now, Bye! See you at home._

Ichigo smiled and switched off his phone, putting it back into his pocket. He popped another piece of popcorn back into his mouth before leaning back into his chair and continued to watch the movie.

*...*

The movie ended, the lights went back on. Ichigo sat there staring at the screen, everything in 3-D was a lot more sadder when all those people were falling down the ship, at one point, he actually thought one person was going to fall onto him that he raised his arms up in protection, the whole theatre actually saw and laughed at him. Hinamori included, she was next to him now, taking of her glasses and rubbing her eyes. Ichigo stared at her and asked, "How was it?" she blinked a couple of times before giving him a rather shocking answer.

"I thought it was the most boring thing I've ever watched, I mean, hat's off to the director who made this movie but I couldn't understand a thing. Seriously, if someone I loved died, sure I would be sad but I would move on. Though, I think it was well directed so yeah, I still don't get it though."

Ichigo stared at her in amazement; he blinked a couple of times before opening his mouth.

"You're awesome."

"Thank you." She said with a smile.

Ichigo got up, "Anyways, come on, we're going bowling now, the alley is not so far from here." Hinamori nodded and stood up, they both walked out of the door, Ichigo was listening to the conversation of a group of girls nearby.

"That movie was so awesome! It was even better in 3-D. Realistic much? The part where the ship was sinking, it looked like they were going to fall right on you!" the youngest of the group exclaimed, she looked around the age of fifteen, the same age as him. Another girl who looked slightly older than the first girl giggled, "Yeah, remember the guy who raised his hands in protection and actually thought the people were really falling on him? That was hilarious!" Ichigo went bright red and swore under his breath, darn those effects. Another girl in the group was staring at him, she tapped her friends on the shoulders, "Hey guys, he's right there! Right next to us, the one with orange hair." Ichigo could feel all eyes from the group on him. One of them giggled, "Close up he's actually pretty cute!" The other girls laughed and nodded in agreement. The oldest of the group who appeared to be the age of seventeen smiled, "Let's ask him if he wants to join us for dinner." He twitched. Did he hear wrongly? He was hoping he did, _'Jeez, these girls are pretty cocky. Ah maybe you heard wrongly, Ichigo. Hopefully you did...'_ His hopes were crushed as the group of five girls stepped in front of him and Hinamori.

"Hey! Aren't you the guy who screamed in the movie theatre just now?" one of them asked.

Ichigo gave a slight nod and coughed, "Um, well yeah that was me. Hehe, I thought I was going to be a flatten pancake." The group of girls giggled, "Oh you're so funny!" He stared at them. Hinamori glared at them, _'These girls are huge flirts.'_ She thought as one of them stepped up.

"Hey um, we're going out for dinner at the sushi bar downtown, wanna come?" she asked.

Ichigo's eyes shifted from them to Hinamori and shook his head, "Sorry girls, I'm afraid I can't, I'm already on a date with this girl over here." He wrapped one arm around Hinamori's shoulder. She stared at him in disbelief; he actually turned a group of FIVE girls for her. She smiled, _'This guy is filled with surprises.'_ The girls were silent before the youngest spoke out.

"Uh sure, sorry for the trouble, well we hope to see you around soon."

With that, the five of them walked away before giving Hinamori a wicked death glare. Ichigo sighed, "God, those girls are one scary group. Anyways, let's get going, the bowling alley is just down the street." He said, leading the way, he already removed his arm from Hinamori's shoulders. She stared at him, "You gave up a chance to eat with five good looking girls to stay on our date." She said. Ichigo shrugged his shoulders, "Well yeah, I'm not some punk who'd leave a girl who's never been to the human world for the chance to eat with a couple of chicks. No way, only Keigo would do that." She stared at him confused, "Who's Keigo?" He shook his head.

"Just some stupid friend of mine."

The girl smiled, the more she got to know this substitute shinigami, the more interested she was in him.

"Hey! Stop daydreaming! We're already here, come on." The boy said, leading her into a huge room filled with strange lanes, each ended with strange looking pins. People were throwing huge balls at it, some knocking all of them down. Hinamori scanned this new environment. She had never seen anything like it before. Ichigo was at the counter, asking for two pairs of shoes, he turned at stared at her feet.

"Make that one pair of size 8 and another pair size 6." He told the counter woman, she nodded and quickly scuffled through the drawers and placed two pairs of shoes onto the counter. Ichigo thanked her and took them, giving one to Hinamori.

"Here, try this, if it doesn't fit I'll ask for a bigger or smaller size." He said.

She nodded and slipped her feet into one of them. It fit like a glove. He smiled, "Fits you well." He slipped both his feet into the shoes and so did Hinamori. Ichigo brought her to Lane 10. He set both their names into a screen and it appeared on the small television above them. Hinamori was up first. She took the lightest ball from the deck in the middle of the small area surrounded by chairs. She stepped right up onto the higher ground and stood in front of the lane in front of her. She took a deep breath and turned to the boy behind her.

"How do I play this?"

Ichigo chuckled and got up and stood next to her. "It's rather simple; you see those pins in front of you? Yeah you hold the ball up like this," He grabbed another ball from the deck and inserted three of his fingers into three circles on it and held it up, holding it slightly below his chin, "And you throw it right in front of you, let it slide though. It makes it easier for you to score a strike, which means you knock all those pins down. If you knock most of them down and there's only one left standing and if you are able to hit it down on your second try, that's a spare. Try it out." Hinamori nodded, she followed the pose and instructions and held the ball up, as she threw it, Ichigo led out a huge yell.

She threw the ball to another lane.

He ran, sliding on the lane and grabbing it, holding it to his chest. He sighed in relief, luckily it didn't hit the pins or not Hinamori would have given the other group next to them points. He got up and passed the group, apologizing a few times and went back to the girl.

"Ok, here's another thing you need to know, you can only throw this ball to your own lane. Not someone else's." She nodded and took back the ball from his hands. She held it up again, breathing in and out and threw the ball.

BAM! The pins fell, and with that, words were flashing on the television screen above them.

CONGRATULATIONS! STRIKE!

Ichigo sat there dumbfounded; he was staring at the words on the screen. His face was unreadable. Hinamori was jumping with joy.

"Did you see that? I GOT A STRIKE! Thank you Kurosaki-kun! Thank you so much you're such an awesome teacher!" she said, smiling while still jumping. Ichigo just sat there. Staring, his pupils were the size of an ant. Hinamori tugged his sleeve. "Come on! I wanna see you play! Go on!" She brought Ichigo to his legs. He was still wide-eyed. She gave him the ball and snapped her fingers in front of his face, causing him to snap out of his funk.

"Hello? Earth to Kurosaki-kun! It's your turn!" He stared at her and smiled, "Sorry, I was just thinking how awesome you did, anyways, sure it's my turn." He took the ball and stepped in front of the lane before he threw the ball; he whacked all of them, a strike. Hinamori jumped with glee, "Wow! You're amazing! Hah maybe I've met my match." She said, snottily. Ichigo looked at her, "Oh just you wait, I'll beat you. I'm sure of it." Hinamori gave a smirk, "Wanna bet?" The boy slammed his palm onto the table in front of him.

"Sure, what's the deal?"

"Loser has to serve the person who the winner picks?" she asked. He gave a sly smile and rolled up his sleeves.

"Game on."

*...*

The game ended, both of them tied, scoring 154 points. Ichigo twitched, "That's it? A TIE? COME ON! I was planning to make you serve Renji." Hinamori sighed, "I was planning to make you serve Kuchiki-taichou." He twitched, he sure was glad it was a tie now. He turned to her and asked, "I'm hungry, you?" Hinamori didn't have to say anything, her stomach grumbled; Ichigo stared at her with a dumbass smile on his face. Hinamori went red, "It's not funny! I hardly ate after our lunch this afternoon, so stop having that silly look on your face!" he was still smiling when he said, "Ok ok, anyways, let's just check out of here and go to the diner across the street." She looked down and nodded, making sure he didn't see how red her face was. Ichigo submitted their score to the counter, paying her twelve bucks for both of them. He walked out and she followed him. Across the road was, as Ichigo said, a diner. It wasn't crowded, but it wasn't empty either.

"Come on. We better get a table." He gestured her to go in front of him, she nodded and went in front. He led her across the street, making sure there were no cars in sight. They went into the diner and sat down at a table. A waitress came and passed both of them the menu. Hinamori opened it and scanned the pages.

"Oh! I want spaghetti! It's so yummy, is that ok? And a glass of coke, not a big glass though." Ichigo nodded, "I'll have the club sandwich, with fries, hah I'm hungry already." He waved his hand in the air and the waitress came, he gave her their orders and she left. He turned back to Hinamori and sat back.

"So... what'cha wanna talk about?" he asked. Hinamori tapped her chin and smiled.

"How did you and Kuchiki-san meet?" The boy raised an eyebrow.

"How we met? Well it wasn't anything special, I was in my room and a butterfly came in, and from that butterfly she appeared. I actually thought she was a burglar at first so I kicked her." Hinamori went wide eyed, "You KICKED her?" Ichigo nodded. "Well yeah, I have a habit of doing that. Anyways, she was shocked I could see her, I was able to because I've been living with the ability to see spirits ever since I could remember. She explained to me how she was a shinigami and how she was looking for an evil spirit which was wrecking havoc in town." The vice captain listened to his story with every amount of attention. "Suddenly there was a huge blast, it came from downstairs, my sister Karin came up and she was wounded, she told me how something came through the wall and Yuzu and dad got really badly hurt. I lost it and went downstairs, Rukia tried to stop me and was shocked when she saw I broke her binding spell, I attacked the hollow carelessly out of anger when I saw Yuzu in its hands. Rukia was able to save her, I leaped out in front of the hollow once again and this time it head straight for me, Rukia jumped in and got badly wounded, the hollow was getting closer and she explained to me that the only way to save my family was to become a shinigami. I agreed and she thrust her Zanpaku-to into my chest. And that's how I met her and became a shinigami." Hinamori blinked a couple of times, "That was a rather long story." Ichigo sighed. "Yeah, and if you asked me about the execution then that would've been an even longer one, all I can say is that I worked my ass off to save her." The two stared at each other. Ichigo raised an eyebrow.

"Why is Aizen so important to you?"

The minute he said that Hinamori banged her head onto the table. He leapt in a state of shock, "Whoa! Are you alright?" Hinamori sighed and nodded. Ichigo decided that if he ever wanted to ask her a question, it better not be about Aizen. The two continued asking each other questions before their food came. When it did Ichigo raised an eyebrow.

"Does Toushiro have a crush on you?"

Hinamori gagged on her coke, "Oh dear, that's a new one. Well no I don't think so I mean me and Shiro-chan are just fr-" Ichigo dropped his fork and looked up at her, "...Shiro-chan?" She slapped her forehead, "Oops I mean Toushiro." He stared at her and laughed, "S-shiro-chan? Oh god you've gotta be kidding me! Wow a new nickname for him; you're a funny one Hinamori." She laughed and jumped as her soul pager was ringing; she took it out and stared at it.

"Oh shoot, some unknown spirit is attacking people at the park, I have to go." Ichigo stood up, "Wait I'll follow you!" Hinamori nodded, he asked for the bill and signed it before the two ran out. Ichigo was smart enough to bring Kon's soul candy along, Hinamori too. They both popped it into their mouths and their shinigami form jumped out of their bodies.

"Kon! You and Hinamori go back to my house! And whatever you do, if I find out you did ANYTHING with Hinamori's gigai so help me I'll send you to the junkyard." Kon, in Ichigo's body nodded, "Yes sir! I'll make sure I won't do anything wrong." He said, secretly crossing his fingers. The substitute shinigami nodded and with that, the two ran, ready to fight the unknown spirit ahead of them.

**OH EM GEE that was the LONGEST CHAPTER I HAVE WRITTEN FOR THIS STORY! I'm kind of proud of myself. Anyways, I forgot to mention that last chapter (Chapter 6) was dedicated to -unknownx.x since she loves hitsuruki so much and this chapter is dedicated to littleridinghood, the biggest fan of Ichihina and Syukrina too since she dedicated her chap 4 of 'The Last Song' to me, IT ROCKED BTW. Anyways, please review I worked really hard on this chapter and next chapter well, hehe you'll find out soon enough ;] It's so- wait, better not spoil it 8D REVIEWWW AND HOPED YOU ENJOYED :] Btw I got the idea of Rukia calling Kenpachi after getting at least thirty over messages from Rachel bout it. AND btw Janice would like to dedicate this as an early bday present to RinkaTomiya, Yes, Janice told me about u and I AM VERY GIVING AHAHAHA... Yeah please ignore me I'm crazy. And and this chapter is also dedicated to AmuletMisty, who did her Hey Soul Sister video on youtube for me :] THANK YOUU and ah what the heck this is for all my reviewers**


	8. Poison In My Veins

**AHAHAHAHAH chapter 8! PLEASE REVIEW I WANT 100 REVIEWS BUAHAHAHAH *continues laughing like a mad woman* I'm sorry if this chapter isn't…. interesting cuz its actually pretty boring and all but… ah whatever JUST REVIEW!**

Rukia leapt up as something rang, she took out her soul pager from her handbag and stared at it before glancing at Hitsugaya, he was also carrying his soul pager with a look of worry on his face. The girl raised an eyebrow; "Unknown spirit attacking civilians in the park?" he nodded looking at her.

"We better get going." He said, standing up. Rukia asked for the bill and they both paid before taking out their soul candy and popping out of their gigai.

"Get to safety! Don't do anything suspicious while we're gone!" ordered Rukia.

The two nodded at their gigai's and ran off to the park, leaving their two gigai's stranded on a street. Hitsugaya and Rukia arrived; a couple of meters away from them were Ichigo and Hinamori, both standing in their shinigami form, searching for something.

"Kurosaki! Hinamori!" yelled Hitsugaya, running to them which Rukia followed. Ichigo was carrying Zangetsu, Hinamori was already grasping Tobiume.

"It's a Arrancar, one that I've never seen before." Said Ichigo, panting. Hinamori nodded, "It's strong. I mean, really strong. It nearly took out both of us at once." Rukia rubbed her temples, _"He nearly took out Hinamori, a vice captain and Ichigo, someone who was able to defeat Nii-sama!'_ she thought but decided to shake the thought out of her head. Hitsugaya sighed and unsheathed Hyourinmaru, "Ok come on guys, we better get this Arrancar before more people get hurt." He flinched as something was moving at the corner of his eye. It was in the shadows. The other three followed his gaze before quickly holding their swords at will. A man was in the shadows; he looked slightly above the height of six feet. There were tentacles all around his back, each ending with a sharp point, all were dripping with a strange colored substance. Rukia gaped, "Acid." The four shinigami's took a few steps back. The man came out of the shadows, licking his lips slyly; he had fangs glistening with blood. His eyes were beady and his eye color was only black. Ichigo had beads of sweat rolling down his cheek. The Arrancar took a few steps forward and smiled.

"Four shinigami's, what a delight, I'll have the enjoyment of eating all of you!" he laughed menacingly.

Hitsugaya pursed his lips, "Fat chance, we'll kill you before you even get a chance to move." Hinamori jumped in mid air before yelling, "HADO 33! SOKATSUI!" A blast came from Hinamori's palm, heading towards the Arrancar but unfortunately he jumped up, causing Hinamori to blow a whole into the tree that he was standing in front of a second ago. Rukia lifted her sword, "Sode no Shirayuki…" it immediately changed shape, turning into a completely white sword, "First dance, TSUKISHIRO!" A circle formed around the area where Rukia stood, the Arrancar was heading towards her, like a missile in the sky. Sode no Shirayuki shoot up, the ice so close to freezing the Bounto in the air. But it missed, Hitsugaya and Ichigo yelled.

"Bankai! Daiguren Hyourinmaru!"

"Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu!"

Ice wings sprouted out from Hitsugaya's back, he flew, heading his way to the monster in the air. Ichigo's Zanpaku-to changed shape, his shikahusho did too, he shun po'd next to Rukia and panted, "Not easy is he?" she shook her head, "No. He's different than the others. Much stronger, even you had to go into bankai stage to fight him." He sighed and looked up. Hitsugaya was now engaged in a fierce battle, their swords clashing.

"Who are you?"

"I'm an Arrancar as you can see! But I was shunned away by Aizen-sama for being too powerful, All thanks to that damn Grimmjow!."

Hitsugaya swung his sword, able to graze the side of his enemy's cheek. "What's your name?" the captain asked, the enemy laughed and smiled, "Who knows? I haven't heard my name in such a long time that I practically forgot it. What use is it anyways telling my name to a dead man? Oops, I mean boy." This Arrancar was pissing Hitsugaya off. He was going to swing his sword when all of a sudden the Arrancar disappeared from his sight. Hitsugaya went wide eyed. Hinamori stared at him and yelled her eyes wide with fear.

"SHIRO-CHAN!"

Hitsugaya felt a thud to his back. He looked down slowly, checking whether there was a blade pierced through him. Nothing, no blade, no sharp pointy thing whatsoever had gone through him. He turned slowly, Ichigo's back was facing him, his Zanpaku-to was held up, he was able to block a death blow from the Arrancar. Hitsugaya gave a smirk.

"Stealing my fight Kurosaki?"

"Hey, I'm not gonna let you hog all the spotlight and get your ass kicked while doing it."

Hitsugaya raised a brow, "Excuse me? I could've sworn that you were not even a real shinigami before this correct?" Ichigo seemed to have ignored Hitsugaya's question and charged at the Arrancar in front of him. Rukia and Hinamori gulped, Ichigo and Hitsugaya were fighting with all their might but somehow the Arrancar was able to slightly overpower them. Rukia grunted, "Hinamori, stay put." The other girl shook her head, "No way! I want to help too." She was about to go to her comrades above her until Rukia raised her hand, stopping her from going any further.

"You just got discharged from the hospital, you aren't going ANYWHERE."

She leapt up, drawing her sword. Hinamori stood there, motionless. She wasn't sure whether she should listen to Rukia's orders or disobey it directly.

She chose the second option.

Rukia was yelling at Ichigo for wrongfully using his Getsuga Tenshou, Hitsugaya was moaning and complaining about their stupidity. Hinamori stepped into the battlefield, the three stared at her wide eyed, and Rukia looked ticked off.

"Hinamori-fuku taichou! What did I tell you about your safety!" 

Hinamori ignored her, Rukia grunted before making a hand sign. She began to chant.

"Mask of flesh and blood, universe soar, the one crowned with man's name…" Hitsugaya's eyes widened, '_A niju eisho!"_ Ichigo seemed clueless on what was happening. "Carve twin lotuses into the wall of blue flame; wait for the edge of the great fire in the distant heavens… Bakudo 61…" Suddenly a six-rod light appeared around the Arrancar, trapping him.

"RIKU-JOKORO!"

Hinamori gasped, "She mastered Kuchiki taichou's specialty." Ichigo simply smiled, "Thanks for trapping him Rukia! Toushiro! Freeze him with Hyourinmaru! Hinamori, blow him with one of your spells." Hinamori nodded and yelled, "Hado 63! Soren Sokatsui!" there was a huge explosion, the Arrancar was bleeding badly. Hitsugaya shun-po'd behind the Arrancar and bellowed.

"SOTEN NI ZASE HYOURINMARU!"

Ice started to creep up the Arrancar's leg, he tried to move but couldn't. He was paralyzed. A shadow began to dawn on him. He quickly looked up and saw Ichigo, raising Zangetsu in the air.

"GETSUGA TENSHOU!"

The Arrancar's body was sliced in half, he fell to the ground. Hinamori, Ichigo and Hitsugaya followed him. They surrounded the Arrancar; Ichigo raised Zangetsu over his shoulder. "Meh, you weren't that much of a challenge after all." The Arrancar on the floor stared at him and laughed manically. "Fools, do you think that there wouldn't be a snitch? You see, there was a reason why they didn't want me anymore. Because…" He smiled evilly.

"If I get defeated by my enemy, I secretly unleash poison into their veins, and if they don't realize it soon then it's bye-bye for them!"

Hinamori flinched, she looked around, there was Hitsugaya, and Ichigo… she went wide eyed and looked at the two in front of her, Ichigo seemed emotionless before sprinting forward.

"KUROSAKI! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!"

Ichigo wasn't listening; he was running frantically, hoping that Rukia was alright. Hinamori began to run after him, Hitsugaya followed. The orange haired shinigami was running 'till his legs might have fallen off, it wasn't belong before he heard a shriek, he turned, Hinamori was staring at something, she ran and reached a body on the ground, Ichigo and Hitsugaya followed. When they both reached her, Ichigo almost immediately fell to his knees.

Rukia was on the ground in front of them, blood was trickling down from her lips, her eyes were shut and her face was pale.

Hinamori slowly leaned her ear to Rukia's chest; she stayed there for awhile before tears began to run down her face. Ichigo panicked and yelled, "What's with the tears? She's alright, right? She's gonna be OK am I right?" Hinamori raised her head and stared at him.

"Her heart is no longer beating. I'm so sorry but… she's dead."


	9. My Saviour

Hitsugaya took a few steps forward. He stared at the lifeless girl who was currently in Ichigo's arms who, was quite obviously panicking. Hinamori just kept crying uncontrollably. The captain fell to his knees in front of Rukia. He examined her and gently stroked her cheek; it was as cold as ice. He shook his head, refusing to believe the fact that Rukia was no longer here. He slowly faced his childhood friend and asked, "Ok Hinamori, is this a joke? You're just pulling our leg right?" The girl stared at him; her eyes were completely red from crying.

"If I was joking Toshiro, why am I crying my eyes out?"

He stared at her before turning back to the girl in front of him. Ichigo was now holding her close to him; he was mumbling the same sentence over and over again.

"She's not dead. She's not dead. She's not dead!"

Hitsugaya placed his hand onto Ichigo's shoulder. "Enough Kurosaki, she's gone. Stop lying to yourself." The orange haired boy spun around, his face furious.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? We can save Rukia! We just need to get her to 4th division! She can be saved! She can..."

He stopped and looked down at the girl he was now holding on for dear life. He leaned his ear against his chest, searching for any signs of life. A few minutes had passed and there was no sign of any heartbeat. He choked back his tears. He didn't want anyone to see him crying. He had to be strong, for Rukia's sake. He merely held her tight, hoping this was all a dream. Hitsugaya stared at the state of his two friends and sighed. He unsheathed Hyourinmaru and said to Ichigo.

"Put Kuchiki down."

Ichigo stared at him, befuddled. "Wh-what? What are you ta-"

"DO YOU WANT KUCHIKI TO SURVIVE OR NOT!"

The captain was huffing; Ichigo stared at him before slowly placing Rukia onto the pavement. Hitsugaya nodded and held Hyourinmaru in front of him and chanted.

_Heal the wounds of the dearly beloved;_

_Calling on the gods of healing;_

_Forgive us for our sins and help us out;_

_Please, the ice dragon king is now bowing before you;_

_To heal the wounds of our loved ones._

_HYOURINMARU!_

Ichigo and Hinamori leapt back as a huge blue circle formed around Hitsugaya and Rukia. The girl continued to lay there lifeless, after a few minutes you could see a hint of colour was returning to her body, soon a strange ball of water float out of Rukia's throat. This was the poison that espada had planted into her obviously. After all the remaining water had been removed from her body Rukia began breathing again. Hinamori's face lit up and she smiled, Ichigo gave a huge sigh of relief. Hitsugaya stared at the girl he had just saved a while longer before he collapsed. Hinamori and Ichigo ran to him, the girl wrapped one of his arms around her shoulder and brought him up. "He's used a lot of spiritual energy. Don't worry he'll be alright." She said, giving him a reassuring smile. Suddenly there was a light, the both of them turned to see a senkaimon in front of them. The doors slid open and out came none other than Abarai Renji and Kuchiki Byakuya. Byakuya was calm while Renji looked as if though he was gonna throw a fit.

"RUKIA! WHERE'S RUKIA! Is she ok?" He caught sight of the girl lying down on the ground. He picked her up and quickly ran into the senkaimon along with Rukia. He turned to his captain and beckoned him to hurry. Byakuya rolled his eyes and stared at the other three and nodded before entering the senkaimon. Hinamori dragged Hitsugaya across the floor; she looked up and smiled at Ichigo before entering the gate.

"See you later Ichigo."

The shinigami smiled and waved at her goodbye and sighed. He waited a few minutes before falling to his knees and hands.

"This is all my fault!"

Ishida flinched. He turned to his two other friends in front of him. "Did you guys feel that?" Chad nodded. "That was Rukia's spiritual pressure." Orihime did not say a word. She merely stared at her knees. "That was strange. Hitsugaya-taichou's spiritual pressure decreased too." Ishida noted. Orihime stared at the two and said, "That's probably because they fought together. They were on a date about an hour ago." Ishida and Chad stared at Orihime, wide-eyed.

"KUCHIKI-SAN AND HITSUGAYA-TAICHOU ON _DATE?_" the quincy yelled. The girl sighed, "It's some matchmaking thing the woman's shinigami association organized." Ishida and Chad sighed. The biggest of the group raised an eyebrow, "Where is Ichigo? I'm sure he'd be with Rukia by sensing her spiritual pressure." The chestnut haired girl stood up and walked to the window, drawing the curtains open to gaze out on the starry sky outside.

"Knowing Ichigo, he's probably kicking and screaming at himself right about now. I mean, why wouldn't he?"

Ishida stared at Orihime. He knew very well on what she had meant by that.

"That's because... Rukia is the most important person in Ichigo's whole life. He really... does love her with all his heart. Something I will never be able to do."

Urahara slid his shoten's front door open. He looked as if though he was an abusive drunk of a husband. His suit was all crinkled up and his tie was pulled all the way down to his fourth button of his shirt inside his jacket. He slipped of his shoes and tiptoed his way to his room.

"Someone's had a late night out."

The former 12th company captain swung to the sound of the voice. Yoruichi was sitting at the kitchen table, her hair was let down and she was wearing a spaghetti strapped black sleeping gown. Urahara laughed, "Ahaha~ Yoruichi-san! How wonderful it is to see you wide awake at 3 am in the morning!" Yoruichi got up and made her way towards the messy shop owner. "Did you and Soi Fon have such a good time that u decided to go to some night club and party 'till 3 am in the morning?" Urahara gave a rather nervous laugh. "Actually it's the total opposite." Yoruichi raised an eyebrow while folding her arms. "Go on."

"Well, while we were on our date she told me she had to go to the toilet. She was in there for about an hour and a half so I got worried and went to check on her when there wasn't anyone else in the bathroom. When i went inside I suddenly got pulled up and I got thrown into one of the cubicles and she locked the door from the outside and I was trapped in there for about five hours until a cleaner came in and unlocked the door and I ran out. Then I spent the next three hours looking for her. In the end I pretty much gave up and came back here." The woman grumbled, "Um, why couldn't you just climb over the door?" Urahara sighed, "I'm not a ninja Yoruichi-san." The man suddenly changed face. "Did you feel the presence of that espada just now?" he asked. His close friend nodded. "And the decrease of Kuchiki and Hitsugaya's spiritual pressure as well. Kisuke, Kuchiki... she died for a while. If it wasn't for Hyourinmaru she would've been gone." Urahara grabbed his fan from a nearby shelf and waved it dramatically.

"Besides the fact that she's already dead, that is terrible!" he yelled in his sing-song voice.

Yoruichi rolled her eyes. "But... what about Ichigo? He was there when she got hurt. I felt his spiritual pressure near her. You _**know**_ how much Ichigo cares for Rukia don't you? She's the one he wants to protect the most in his life." Urahara grabbed her wrist and jerked her up, pulling her towards him.

"Just like you are to me."

Yoruichi stared at him for a few seconds before giving him a rather painful slap across the face. "Stop trying to lead me on, you weirdo." She turned on her heel and made her way to her room.

"Hey Yoruichi-san! How was your date by the way?" Urahara yelled.

She waved her hand, "Boring, Shuuhei is nice but he's not exciting." She was actually lying just so her male friend would leave her alone. Urahara gave a smile.

"Well goodnight Yoruichi-san."

"Night Urahara."


	10. Needed Advice

**AHAHAHAH I was reading over chapter nine and I realized I made tons of mistakes T-T like at the end Orihime called Ichigo by his first name. OK PEOPLE, JSUT PRETEND SHE SAID "Kurosaki-kun" PLEASE (: Anyways, R&R PLEASE! I WANNA HIT MEH 100 REVIEWS MARK :D Huhuhu...**

Someone was banging on his door. He looked up from his desk and paperwork, raising an eyebrow. Her knocks were too familiar to not recognize. He gave a sigh.

"What is it, Matsumoto?"

She banged the door open. Usually she wouldn't even knock; Hitsugaya noticed this and knew something was wrong. "Taichou! I need your help!"

_**TWO WEEKS EARLIER**_

Rukia smiled, "Thank you all for visiting." She was sitting in her bed, her three friends Ishida, Orihime and Chad surrounded her. The gifts which she had been given was set on the ground next to her bed. Orihime returned her smile and said, "It's nothing Kuchiki-san! You're our friend, why wouldn't we visit you? We're sorry that we visited a week later; we thought that you were still unconscious so we decided to leave you alone." The raven-haired girl shook her head. "No, it's the fact that you visited that really matters." Ishida sighed in relief. "Well obviously, I'm sure Kurosaki visited you the day after this incident, knowing him." Rukia stared at him for a few moments and fiddled with her fingers.

"Actually... Ichigo hasn't visited me yet."

Her three other friends gawked at her. Their faces stayed like that for awhile more before dropping it. "That's too bad. Oh well I'm pretty sure he'll visit soon." Reassured Chad, Rukia merely nodded. Orihime stared at her and sighed. '_This isn't what Kurosaki-kun would do at all.' _She looked up and gave a smile to Rukia but surprisingly Rukia did not return it. The girl frowned and twirled her hair with a confused expression.

Ichigo stood outside Rukia's room. He held his hand up to the knob and hesitated. He stared at it awhile more before dropping his hand. He sighed and turned on his heel, heading his way out of the 4th division barracks.

"WELL!" Matsumoto yelled, she banged her fist onto his desk and continued, "That bastard Ichigo! It's been three weeks since Rukia's gone into the hospital and he has not even visited her once! I can tell that Rukia is rather sad about that fact. She hardly smiles now all because of HIM." She started cursing his name, mainly because of the fact that Ichigo was now acting a lot like a man she knew. Take a guess and find out yourself who that guy is. Hitsugaya drank a bit of his tea and removed it from his lips, "He hasn't? Wow that's actually pretty shocking. So what do I have to do with this?" Matsumoto gave a sly smile, "Well, that's where you come in. Go and comfort Rukia, you've visited her the most out of all of us by the way. Even more than Renji or Byakuya which rarely happens. It's quite obvious you've gotten rather close to her." The captain went pink and retorted rather angrily. "You dumbass! I've not gotten close to her at all! So just shut up and leave me alone already. Kuchiki is strong; she can take care of herself." Matsumoto growled at him and turned on her heel, making her way to the door. Before she exited she stopped and said rather loudly.

"Men. All of them are all so selfish." 

Hitsugaya waited for her footsteps to fade away. The minute he was sure she was gone he jerked up and sprinted out of the room, making his way to the 4th division. As he got there one of the nurses stopped him. "I'm sorry Hitsugaya-taichou but running is not permitted in the hallways. May I know who you might be visiting?" The snowy-white haired shorty panted, he held onto his knee and raised his finger, telling her to wait a moment. He took a deep breath and stood up, "Kuchiki Rukia of the 13th division please." The nurse raised an eyebrow, "Again? That's the 8th time you've visited her in the last three weeks. Very well, go on." Hitsugaya made his way to her room. As he reached it he took a deep breath and shoved the door open. Rukia looked up, her eyes wide. Tears were streaming down her face. Hitsugaya gulped, "Kuchiki? A-are you... crying?" he asked. Rukia shook her head, "N-no, I'm merely smelling onions. That's right. Onions." Hitsugaya shut the door behind him and made his way to Rukia, grabbing her hand, "There are no onions anywhere." She stared at him and rubbed her tears. "Fine, I am. So what? Everyone cries. There's nothing possibly wrong with it." She pulled her hand away and sighed. The boy sat on her bed and stared at her. "What's wrong Kuchiki?" she shook her head.

"I know this is terribly selfish of me but, I really want Ichigo to visit me. I can't help but wonder whether I did something wrong or not. Ichigo's never not visited me for such a long period of time so I'm wondering whether it's my fault or whether he got into an accident or..." Hitsugaya rolled his eyes. "Are you stupid? Don't you realize why he's not been visiting you? Do you? Well obviously he's pissed by the fact that he couldn't save you! THINK. Geez, seriously, stop blaming yourself. I thought you would've known that by now." He raised his legs onto the bed and wrapped his arms around it. "So cheer up, ok?" Rukia merely stared at him and raised an eyebrow, "But why would Ichigo possibly do that? You need to think Hitsugaya-taichou. Whenever I got hurt when he was around he blamed himself sure, but he never failed to visit." Hitsugaya stroked his chin.

"Well maybe but... did you know that Ichigo struck the final death blow to that espada? He probably feels like he's the reason you're hurt. Or maybe he feels that he was being too arrogant and probably felt that if he wasn't so full of himself that he could've protected you." Rukia shook her head, "But why now? All those other times... what could possibly be so different that he won't visit now?" Hitsugaya shrugged his shoulders, "Don't know. Don't worry you can pound him all you want when you see him next time. And you gotta promise me that. A message from me to him too."

"For calling you a midget?"

"Well that too, but mainly for making you cry.

"Promise me you won't tell Nii-sama or Renji about me crying like this?"

"Promise me you'll kill Kurosaki the next time you see him?"

They both nodded. Hitsugaya held up his hand and stuck out his pinky. Rukia understood this gesture. It was what humans would call "A pinky swear". Rukia brought her hand up and wrapped her pinky around his. She stared at him and threw her arms around him. "Thank you Hitsugaya-taichou, you've made me feel a lot better." She smiled. Hitsugaya went a light shade of pink and nodded slowly.

"Sure. I'm glad to help."

Orihime stood at Ichigo's door. She was staring at him. "Promise?" He rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, sure. I promise." Orihime sighed in relief. "Thank you. And make it soon OK? When I visited her a few weeks ago her face looked distraught and sad. Rangiku-san told me that she visited her yesterday and before she went in she could've heard sobbing. So please, visit her soon. I have to go now Kurosaki-kun, I'll see you later!" she smiled at him one last time and ran off. Ichigo gave her a small wave. He closed the door and made his way up the stairs. Isshin yelled from their kitchen. "ICHIGO MY BOY! WHAT COULD THAT BEAUTIFUL CLASSMATE OF YOURS POSSIBLY WANT FROM YOU!"

"Please dad, I'd like to be alone right now." 

Soon, Ichigo was in his room. He walked to his bed after shutting his door. He stood in front of his bed and plonked himself onto it. _'Did I really make Rukia cry?'_ he thought to himself. He stayed there for awhile before slamming his fist against his pillow. _'Dammit! I'm so selfish! I'm hurting Rukia for my own sake. How could I do that? How could I make her cry! I don't get it. What's keeping me from visiting her?____I've always been the first to visit her so I just don't get it!" _he yelled at himself.

The next thing he knew there was a sound of a heavy thump. He looked up and saw the shoes of a shinigami. He sat up and stared at the girl standing a few feet away from him with a rather angry face. "Why haven't you visited Kuchiki-san?" she demanded. Ichigo went wide-eyed, "Hinamori? What are you doing here?" he asked. She ignored his question and continued, "Do you have ANY idea on how much you've hurt her? DO YOU? She hasn't been eating, DO YOU KNOW THAT? "She screamed. Ichigo was taken aback. He had never seen Hinamori lose it. But that's hard to say 'because he's only actually hanged out with her for a few days.

"Yeah I do, I just got a big lecture about that from Inoue. I've never seen her so... urm what's the word? Oh yeah, worried. About Rukia."

Hinamori walked up to him and looked straight into his eyes. "You better visit her soon. We all know very well that YOU ARE the cause of her depression. Why have you not visited her yet?" He sighed and scratched his head. "I don't know."Hinamori wasn't convinced. "You're not telling the truth." Ichigo sighed. "Promise me you won't tell anyone?" She nodded.

"Well... It's just that Rukia is... really important to me. She's a very good friend and... I just don't get it. I could've saved her that night. And I know, usually I'm like the first one to visit her but I just don't get why I can't now." Hinamori sighed and walked to Ichigo and raised her hand up, pressing a finger slightly towards where his hear was.

"Listen to your heart and that will tell you the answer."

Ichigo looked at her with a rather blank expression. She stood up and smiled, "Well, I have to go now, I was actually supposed to kill this hollow downtown, but I thought I'd drop by your house and help you find out what your true feelings really are. Bye Kurosaki-kun!" she stepped onto his bed and was about to exit the window before turning to him.

"I hope you know what you feel about Kuchiki-san now." She smiled before jumping out of his window. Ichigo stared at blankly ahead. He laid back down on his bed before running a hand through his hair.

"I think that I may be in love with Rukia."

**CHAPTER END 8D I hope you all enjoyed it hehe. R&R PLEASE 8D**


	11. Our Hearts Connected

****

Eleventh chapter! I'm so proud of myself. I really enjoyed writing this chapter because it's told in different people's P.O.V, You'll find out who they are as soon as you read it ;D This is going to be rather long so prepare yourself! R&R is 3 I enjoy reading them and your opinions so review! By the way check out me and Rachel's () fanfic account,

**.net/u/2530429/****Our story is coming out soon! A hitsurukiichi one 8D So look out!**

I took a couple of deep breaths as I made my way down the hall. Nurses were reeling in stretchers and some tending to patients. I had on the bravest face I could ever manage despite the fact that deep inside my heart was beating at an incredible speed. A few more minutes went by before I stood in front of a door. Room 213. As I got closer a loud laugh rang in my ears. I flinched and looked up from the knob before pressing my ear against the door.

"Shut up Rukia! It's not funny! I can't draw alright?"

"No! I think your drawings are wonderful, it's just that…. I never imagined you as the type of person to draw bunnies."

I scratched my head as I wondered on who might possibly be in that room with Kuchiki-san? Maybe it's Kurosaki-kun? That would make me very happy. Though now that I think about it that voice was nowhere near close to his.

Soon the person with her was laughing too. I've never heard that laugh before, it was unfamiliar. Kuchiki-san spoke, "Looks like I'm not the only one who has a passion for drawing bunnies and cute animals." Her companion was no longer laughing; instead a low grumble was heard. I grabbed the door knob and turned it slowly. I pocked my head in to see a smiling Kuchiki-san on her bed, sitting up. Next to her was Toshiro-kun. I stared at the odd sight, never would I have thought to see Kuchiki-san and Toshiro-kun sitting up on a hospital bed, her holding a sketchbook whiles him, holding a pencil. They both were looking at it; Toshiro-kun was rather close to Kuchiki-san now that I looked a bit harder. They both were grinning from ear to ear. I slowly entered the room and gave a small cough, causing both of them to look up. When they were aware that they were no longer the only ones in the room Toshiro-kun jumped out of the bed and stood up, brushing his shihakusho.

"Um, well Kuchiki, I'm glad I had the time to report the news that has been going on in the Seireitei to you…. But I'm busy with paperwork and all so…. Goodbye for now."

Kuchiki-san nodded and bowed her head, "Thank you Hitsugaya-taichou, I'm glad to know what's happening. I appreciate the fact that you visited." The boy nodded back at her and turned, as he passed me he nodded again.

"Afternoon, Inoue."

"Afternoon Toshiro-kun."

The minute he exited the door I was able to catch a glimpse of him giving a smug smirk. I slowly turned to the girl in front of me and smiled.

"You never told me you were so close to Toshiro-kun."

Kuchiki-san went wide eyed and stammered, "N-no, I-I'm not! He merely came and visited, nothing else!" I folded my arms and raised an eyebrow suspiciously, "But you guys were sitting on your bed, smiling over something he drew in that sketchbook of yours." I smiled and ran to the side of her bed, "May I see what you two were grinning over?" She gave a sigh before smirking, flipping to a page of two bunnies, one was unmistakeably ably drawn by Kuchiki-san, she had drawn a picture of Toshiro-kun while the other rabbit was a picture of her, obviously drawn by him. Their drawings were so identical it looked it was drawn by the exact same person. I gave a loud giggle, "Toshiro-kun likes rabbits?" Kuchiki-san hushed me.

"Oi! Not so loud! I promised him I'd keep it a secret, he's pretty embarrassed about it."

She gave a light chuckle. "You even have the same style of drawing! And I heard him call you "Rukia" and not "Kuchiki" before I came in, to me for Toshiro-kun to call someone by their first name obviously means you and him are close!" I exclaimed, my "woman's intuition" that I have recently discovered rising within me. She went scarlet red and retorted, "Well so? He only calls me that when we're alone anyways." I sighed; I never knew Kuchiki-san could be this defensive. She looked at me once again and raised a brow, "Oh yeah, what do you want to tell me Inoue?" My mouth changed into the shape of an 'o' and closed after a few moments. I stared at her before looking down at my feet, sliding it from left to right against the hard marble floor.

"Umm….."

"What is it? Is there something wrong?" she asked.

I looked back up and tried to open my mouth but no words seemed to slip out of my lips. She stared at me blankly before I was able to regain my composure. "Um, I hope you don't mind me saying this Kuchiki-san but... lately, Kurosaki-kun," She flinched at the mere mention of his name, I stopped. I waited for the raven-haired girl sitting in front of me to nod at me to continue. She did so, so I went on, "He hasn't been himself. In school he hasn't been paying attention to things around him, he seems to be in his own world. And every time I try to start a conversation with him he sort of… trails off. I think that maybe…It might have something to do with the fact that he hasn't seen you for a while." She growled and tightened her hand into a fist.

"Well if he feels so bad about it then why hasn't that idiot visited me yet?"

I hesitated, I wasn't so sure either. I thought on every little excuse I could use to defend Kurosaki-kun. It took me a few minutes to think of a rather smart answer, "Kuchiki-san… have you ever thought of the fact that maybe he might not have been visiting you recently because he might have developed feelings for you...?" Her eyebrows shot up, her fist loosening. She had a strange face for a moment before shaking her head, "No, don't be ridiculous. He wouldn't be stupid enough to fall for someone like me." I stared at her confused, what did she mean by a person like her? I thought hard for a moment before she snapped me out of my trance.

"Why do you care so much about how Ichigo feels anyways?"

I gulped; a light blush was creeping across my cheeks. I stuttered, "A-Ah, w-well you know, he's my friend so it's completely normal to worry about him, ahahha…" She crossed her arms, asking me in a rather serious tone. "Don't you dare lie to me Inoue. What's bugging you?" I sighed and raised my right arm to hold my left elbow. "Well, it's just that..." I closed my eyes, wondering if I should tell her my feelings for Kurosaki-kun right now or lie straight to her face that I have no feelings whatsoever for my favourite strawberry. "I care for Kurosaki-kun a lot and all so…I… I…. I don't want him to get hurt and I don't want him always caring for others and not himself. He does that to me all the time. And I hate it. I…" Kuchiki-san's eyebrows furrowed, she waited for me to continue. I gave a huge gulp and yelled.

"I'm a mess Inoue, I'm sorry but please leave me alone."

My eyes widened as the memory of a distraught looking Kurosaki-kun flashed into my mind. Tears started to stream down my face.

"I love him; I don't want anyone to hurt him in any way because Kurosaki-kun is the most important person in my life!"

I raised my hands to cover my face, sobbing uncontrollably. Basically, I was a complete wreck. I'm such a witch, confessing my feelings just like that to Kuchiki-san, I'm so selfish, so very… selfish….

"Shh, stop crying Inoue."

I gasped as I felt warm arms wrap themselves around me. I removed my hands from my face and realized that Kuchiki-san was the one hugging me. "It's ok to let your feelings out once in awhile, and I know you've been shouldering that burden around for quite some time. When I see Ichigo again I'm going to make him cry for doing this to you." I gave a small smile. Kuchiki-san had gotten out of bed just for me. I'm very thankful for that.

"Thank you, Kuchiki-san."

She let go of her embrace and held me by the shoulders, staring me straight in the eye. "Inoue, you are beautiful, caring, strong and smart. Don't you ever doubt that. Ichigo's just going through a rough patch that's all. I promise you when I get out of the hospital I will visit him." I looked up in shock. Kuchiki-san was doing all of this for me.

"Really? You really will do all of that… for me?"

She bit her lower lip and nodded, "Promise." I threw my arms around her, "Thank you Kuchiki-san! Thank you so much! You're the best! You'll not only make me happy but Kurosaki-kun as well." She smiled and returned the hug. "You're welcome." I let go of her and smiled, I waved goodbye and she returned it, I stepped out of the room and led out a deep breath, rubbing my eyes.

"Inoue-san? Is that you?"

I looked up and saw a boy wearing square framed glasses standing in front me. His onyx colored hair glistened under the hospital light. My eyes widened, "Ishida-kun?" He nodded and squinted, "Have you been crying?" My eyes bulged out of their sockets, I laughed and rubbed my eyes quickly, "Ahaha! Of course not! I was just smelling onions with Kuchiki-san! What are you doing here?" He frowned, Ishida-kun always knew when I was lying, he can read me like an open book. Our eyes were locked for awhile more before he broke the silence. "Nothing much… Just came here to look for you, I visited Kuchiki-san awhile ago and someone said that you were here so I decided to look for you." I smiled, he gestured the way to the door and we both walked in silence down the corridor. My mind was still trying to process on what had just happened. I was in a daze for awhile before I felt a warm hand pat my head. I turned to see Ishida-kun staring at me rather seriously.

"I know you're probably not gonna tell me why you're crying and all but..." He reached for something in his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. Ishida-kun raised it out to me and gave a small smile, "Just clean yourself up or I'll go hysterical alright? Stop those tears for me." I stared at the handkerchief and took it from his hands, I dabbed my eyes until all the tears had disappeared.

"Thank you Ishida-kun."

* * *

I placed the ink brush back into its case. After an hour of grueling ticking and signing of paperwork, I'm finally done. I sat back and closed my eyes. Damn! Inoue caught me visiting Rukia, that's embarrassing. Heh, I'm even calling her Rukia now, how strange of me to do this. That bastard Kurosaki still hasn't visited yet. I'm going to make sure he pays….

"TAICHO!"

I flinched and sat back up as I recognized my stupid lieutenant calling my name. The door flew open with a loud bang; Matsumoto was standing in front of me with a bottle of sake. I sighed as she stumbled her way to my desk.

"Have you been drinking again, Matsumoto?"

"No, this isn't sake, it's Milo."

I rolled my eyes, my ass Milo was kept in a sake bottle. She brushed a strand of hair out of her face and exclaimed, "Has Ichigo visited Rukia yet?" I shook my head and she spat on the floor. I cringed and made a note to not cross that way later. "Damn prat! He should be thrown in jail, JAIL I TELL YA!" She's definitely had more than one bottle. She twirled and giggled, "But, I'm pretty sure Hinamori's giving him a hard time, she's been visiting him every day, demanding him to visit Rukia. She's been rather interested in him for a while, maybe she's falling in love with Ichigo! Oh won't that be wonderful? Two fruits together? Or are you jealous of Hinamori's new found love, Taicho?" I snarled, deciding if I should shove a sock down her throat or ignore her completely. I stopped and thought of Hinamori, I hadn't seen her in awhile; maybe I should visit her today? I think I should, after this old hag leaves to join Izuru and Shuuhei for another round of sake. We stared at each other for a few moments before she started hiccupping, I groaned before she gave a loud laugh and twirled her way out of the room. I rubbed the back of my neck and got up, making my way to the fifth division barracks. I nodded as people bowed and greeted me as I walked by. I turned a corner and found myself in front of Hinamori's room. I slide it open and looked inside, Hinamori was sitting in a corner, her head pulled back, she looked deep in thought.

"Urm.. Hinamori?"

She jumped up and smiled, "Oh! Shiro-chan! I'm sorry I was just daydreaming…" she trailed off; I walked to her desk and leaned against it. "So, I heard you've been visiting Kurosaki quite a bit lately?" She blinked a few times before her ears turned bright red, "Who told you about that?" she squeaked. I smirked, so it is true. "Why have you been so interested in seeing him lately?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me, I had no idea why but somewhere, inside me, deep down, I really did feel kind of jealous of Hinamori and Kurosaki's new found friendship. She scoffed, "Don't tell me you're jealous Shiro-chan, I swear Ichigo-kun is just a friend." I made a 'tch' sound and pushed myself off the desk, staring into her eyes. "It's Hitsugaya-taichou. And you're even calling him Ichigo-kun now, what's the deal? Do you like him or something?" What am I doing? Why do I feel this way? This is so out of character for me! Jeez, maybe Matsumoto drugged my tea.

"God Toshiro, don't you think you're overreacting a little?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "No, I'm just asking a couple of innocent questions; maybe it's _you _who's overreacting to the fact of me doing so." Her mouth formed into a straight line, she looked down at her knees before getting up, making her way towards me. I stood there with my arms folded, my eyebrow raised. "Yes? What's with the sudden need to get up?" Hinamori stopped a meter away from me and said firmly, "The reason why I've been visiting him is because I've been trying to get him to visit Kuchiki-san like you have been doing every single second of the day and no, I do not like him, as I said before, Ichigo-kun is only a friend." I realized she called him 'Ichigo-kun' again just to annoy me. I growled before continuing.

"I have not been visiting Rukia every single second of the day, I'm mere-"

"Oh, so _**you're**_calling Kuchiki-san by her first name now?"

I flinched and realized Hinamori had actually heard me calling Rukia by her first name. Dammit! I just called her Rukia again! I'm really not myself today. I scratched my head, "So what? Come on Hinamori, you're calling Kurosaki by his first name so why can't I call Rukia by hers? It's only fair; I'm beginning to think that you're being a little jealous." She pursed her lips and spoke, asking me a rather strange question.

"Why don't you call me Momo anymore?"

I winced, staring at her blankly. "I don't know, I mean, we're not kids anymore and all so it seems righ-" She cut me off, grabbing me by the shoulders, "You know Toshiro, sometimes I wish we could go back to those times! Where we'd call each other "Shiro-chan" or "Bed wetter Momo", but it seems ever since you've become a captain you've been getting sort of distant, like, you don't hang out with me and eat watermelons like we used to!" This threw me way off guard, was this girl PMS-ing? Hinamori has never asked me this question before so it came of quite a shock to me. "W-what are you talking about? We still hang out, just less than usual…" She shook her head and looked me straight in the eye, "Every time I ask you if you want to go out for a stroll, or maybe lunch or eating watermelons, you nearly always turn me down and tell me you have paperwork to do! And that fiasco with Kuchiki-sans execution…." She stopped, shutting her eyes; I knew she was thinking about how Aizen 'died' and how I had been accused of killing him. And how she attacked me because of it…

I shoved her hands off my shoulders, "Jesus Hinamori! Do you think you could be any more dramatic? You can be so annoying sometimes, you know that?" She placed her hands on her hips and yelled, "Oh yeah? You think I'm annoying huh? Is that it? Well, Hitsugaya taichou just wanted to tell you that you can be such a cold hearted jerk! Sometimes I wish I could just… just… slap you!" I jerked back, my eyes blinking countless of times, "Whoa there! Slap me? Is that what you want to do? Then I pretty much get the fact that when you attacked me last month it wasn't just for Aizen's sake, but yours as well." She flinched, staring at me before raising her hand, her finger pointing at my direction, "Don't… don't you dare bring that up… Don't you dare mention what I did last month! I was confused, how would you feel if someone who you admired died and told you that you're best friend killed him?" I raised my hands up in defiance, "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realize that you were the only one in this place who actually _has_feelings! I didn't know I didn't have feelings too when you lunged your sword at me! I didn't know that you actually had the right to jump to conclusions like that!" I have never, EVER, fought with Hinamori like this before. But right now I couldn't seem to think straight.

"And you know what? I'm beginning to feel sorry for your precious captain for having a stupid lieutenant like you!"

I went wide eyed as I realized what I had just said, not only did I insult Hinamori but I mentioned Aizen as well. She seemed taken aback, staring at me as if though her eyes were about to bulge out of their sockets. I noticed that her eyes began to water, a few tears beginning to fall from her face. I took a few steps towards her. She didn't step back, so I took a few more before I reached her. When I did I held her hands, grasping them tightly in mine.

"Hinamori… Look I didn't mean to say tha-"

She tried to pull her hands back but that made me hold her hands even tighter. "Let go Toshiro! Leave me alone! Don't come near me! Don't…" My grip loosened as she raised her hands to her face, sobbing into them, I let go of her hands and reached for her arms, staring at her with my usual stone cold expression. "Look, Momo," She removed her hands from her face and stared at me as she realized I had just called her by her first name. "I'm sorry I raised my voice at you and I'm sorry I mentioned him, but please stop crying, I'm really sorry." Momo's lower lip began to tremble and more tears began to run down her face.

She threw her arms around me before muttering 'sorry' at least a thousand times. I shook my head and wrapped my arms around her, giving a small smirk.

"It's ok; it's not your fault. Hey, how about in a few minutes we can go to my division and eat watermelons at the tenth division porch?"

She pulled herself back and looked at me, her arms still around my neck. She gave that little smile of hers and nodded, "I would love that."

* * *

I tapped my fingers impatiently on my bed sheets, Unohana-taichou should be arriving in a few moments for my results. Every day she would come and give me a check up on whether I'm getting better. So far she said I've been doing OK. I closed my eyes, remembering the visit Hitsugaya-taichou made this morning.

* * *

"Rukia?"

I groaned, pulling the blankets over my head. I want to sleep. Can't whoever it is out there see that? The person began shaking me, I made a growl sound and the person pulled back their hand. I smiled in triumph before I felt the blankets being pulled off me. I swear under my breath and turn, looking up into a pair of teal, emerald eyes.

"What is it Hitsugaya-taichou? Can't you see I'm sleeping?"

"Yeah, and I'd like to sleep 'till 11 in the morning as well."

I rubbed my eyes and sat up, turning back to the captain next to me. "What's the deal visiting me so early?" He rolled his eyes before making a hand gesture which I know means to move to the side. I do so and he sits next to me.

"Just… has Kurosaki visited you yet?"

"No."

He made a strange sound, almost like a lion. I pick my blanket from the bottom of the bed and pull it up, covering myself and a bit of him. "Yeah, growl, now if you don't mind I really want to go back to sleep." Hitsugaya-taichou rolled his eyes yet again and sighed, "You know Rukia, if you continue sleeping like this you'll get really lazy." He's begun to call me Rukia lately, not that I mind though, it's just strange hearing it come out of Hitsugaya-taichou.

"Well, if I'm not mistaken I heard you take naps every afternoon in hope of getting taller."

I chuckled as he began swearing Matsumoto fuku taichou's name. He turned back to me and spoke, "I heard you've been getting better, that's good, you can leave the hospital soon." I nodded in agreement. We both stayed silent for a moment before I grabbed out a sketch book from under my pillow.

"Ok, I have an idea on what we can do today. Hitsugaya-taichou, I wanna see you draw."

* * *

And that's pretty much what happened before Inoue came in and confessed her feelings of Ichigo to me. I stopped and sighed, Inoue loves Ichigo…

I looked up as the door creaked upon; standing at it was a tall, dark middle aged man with ornaments on his head. I went wide eyed, staring at him.

"Nii-sama!"

My brother nodded, making his way to the chair next to my bed, "Good morning Rukia, I see you're getting better." I bowed, giving a small smile. Nii-sama hardly visited me before, but now ever since that whole execution thing he's been paying more attention to me. Nii-sama raised an eyebrow, "Has Kurosaki Ichigo visited you yet?" I shook my head sadly. He stared at me for a moment before getting up, heading to the door. I jumped up, "Nii-sama! Where do you think you're going?" I demanded, he stopped and gave me a quick glance.

"To drag that boy over here."

I sighed, "Nii-sama, let Ichigo do things of his own free will, he'll visit. I'll just have to wait until he does." He grimaced, as he was about to open his mouth, Unohana-taichou made her way in. "Good evening Kuchiki taichou, Rukia, I'm here with your results. It's good news. You can leave now. You're all better!" I stared at her wide-eyed and my mouth was flopping like a fish. Hitsugaya-taichou's prediction was right. I'm leaving the hospital today. Unohana-taichou gave me a heartwarming smile before heading towards the door. She stopped as she passed Nii-sama and whispered something to him. I was baffled at his expression and stared at him as he turned to me. We were locked in a rather long gaze before he asked.

"You're going to go see Kurosaki Ichigo today aren't you?"

I gulped, how could he tell? Was he there when he heard Inoue's confession? I hope not. I'd hate it if my friend's brother heard me confessing my love for someone he knew to his sister. I gave a rather slight nod and waited for his reaction. He frowned for a few seconds before giving a slight nod.

"As you said just know Rukia, I should be letting people do what they wish of their own free will."

I stared at him wide-eyed, with an awfully confused expression. It took me a few moments to react, which, was give a small smile and say softly.

"Thank you Nii-sama."

* * *

I gave a loud groan as I heard a loud thump from behind me. I turned from my desk table and faced the girl standing a few distances away from me.

"What is it now, Momo?"

I've begun to call her by her first name, I have no idea why, it's just something I've caught up with I guess. She rolled her eyes, "You know Ichigo-kun, you have to be the biggest douche I've ever met." I turned back to my table and continued with my homework, "Thank you I'm honored for the title." I closed my math's textbook and stared at her, something was different. I examined her closely and realized there was a bright shimmer in her eyes.

"You seem happy today."

"Oh yes! I was eating watermelons with Shiro-chan, which we haven't done in ages."

I smiled, when we were on our date she told me how she and Toushiro hadn't really hung out with each other for the longest time. So hearing the fact that they did is really good news. I stood up and walked to my bed, sitting down. "Congratulations, how long did you guys hang out for?" "Two hours! That's the longest we've ever been together ever since he became a captain because usually he has paperwork to do or some trouble in the Seireitei was happening." She giggled as we did our secret handshake, usually, I would've thought this was completely immature and foolish but it made her happy, and making her smile was probably the best I could do for her ever since all that shit with Aizen happened. I laid down on my bed and gave a huge sigh, stretching my arms. There's nothing better than lazing around on a Saturday afternoon.

"Kuchiki-san's been discharged out of the hospital."

My eyes shot open and I jerked upright, turning to the petite girl in front of me. "W-what?" She approached my bed and sat at the end, "Yeah, It seems there isn't any more poison in her veins, so she's OK now. She should be out of the hospital soon." She gripped her knees, crinkling a bit of her shihakusho, Momo knew very well about my feelings for Rukia, she was the one who made me realize it and she's the only one who actually knows. "What are you gonna do when you see her again, Ichigo-kun?" I gave a sigh and rubbed my temples, my head felt like a volcano. As I was about to say something I heard my dad calling me from downstairs.

"ICHIGO! IT'S TIME FOR KARIN'S SOCCER MATCH! YOU NEED TO GO SEND HER!"

I groaned and got up, stretching my back which made a very loud cracking sound. As I made my way to the door, Hinamori grabbed me by the wrist. I turned and she suddenly threw her arms around me, hugging me tight. I went a light shade of pink, I wasn't so used to being hugged by girls, so this was awkward. I looked down and chuckled as I noticed that she was tiptoeing as she did so. She looked up at me before letting go of her grasp. "Just… good luck okay?" I smiled, she's really sweet. I ruffled her hair before we both waved goodbye. I ran down the stairs and grabbed my coat, waiting at the door for my sister to come down so I could take her off for her soccer game.

* * *

It was raining. I hate the rain. It seriously reminds me of that certain day in June. Thank god I brought an umbrella just in case; we both were standing under it as we walked. I looked down at Karin, she didn't seem nervous about her game, I like that. "Are you sure you really wanna play in this weather?" she looked up at me, raising an eyebrow. "Of course, a little bit of rain ain't gonna kill me Ichi-nii." I nodded and we continued walking in silence. Approximately ten minutes went by before we reached the park. She led me to a rather huge field, standing at it were a group of boys. I recognized a few of them as Karin's ugly teammates. One of them with afro hair yelled at her, "Yo! Kurosaki! What took you so long? We've been waiting for god knows how long!" I rolled my eyes at him, he's lucky that I'm not one of those overly protective brothers or I would've kicked his ass. Another one of them with a rather odd hairstyle nodded in agreement and his gaze wandered onto me.

"Hey, Kurosaki, isn't that your older brother?"

Karin nodded as she ran to them, "Yeah, Kurosaki Ichigo." They all leapt up in glee at the mere mention of my name which left me awfully confused. "Really? Whoa! Its Kurosaki's brother! The one with the powerful kick!" I stared at them in confusion for awhile before gritting my teeth. Kon. It's gotta be Kon. I shrugged my shoulders and turned, "I'll pick you up in an hour's time okay, Karin?" As I began to walk away I suddenly heard one of her friends yell.

"Let's see If he's still got it in him!"

"ICHI-NII!"

I turned just in time to see a soccer ball heading right for me, I raised my leg and kicked it with a mighty swing, I smirked as it flew into the opponent's goal. Karin's friends twitched while their opponents jaw was dropped. Karin ran up to me, her eyes wide.

"You never told me you could play soccer."

"Hey, you don't ask, I don't mention."

I turned on my heel and made my way out of the park, turning a corner which led to the street.

"_What am I gonna do If I see Rukia?"_

I gave a loud sigh and continued walking, still pondering on that certain question. As I reached the traffic light I looked up and noticed that there was a girl standing at the other side of the road. She had no umbrella, her clothes were drenched and her hair was falling onto her shoulders, wet and as messy as hair could possibly get. She was looking down so I couldn't see her face. I felt a huge drop of guilt fall onto me, I seriously wanted to just walk over there and shelter her with my umbrella. But if I did, I probably would've been smothered by the cars. A few minutes went by before the traffic light turned red. I was still staring at the girl. As the light made a _ping!_ Sound her head shot up, my eyes bulged out of their sockets as I realized who she was.

"Rukia."

She caught my eye, her eyes widened too. We both stared at each other in what seemed like countless days before I began to cross the street, she still stood there, as If she was glued to the ground. As I was about a few meters away from her she began to run. I swore under my breath and threw my umbrella to the side. I didn't give a crap if it got run over by a car; all I cared about was reaching her. I began to sprint, for rather short legs that midget can run fast.

I won't let her go.

I began to pick up my pace as we continued running. She turned a corner which I did as well. I'm not letting her go. I've done it so many times before, both emotionally and normally. But I wasn't gonna let her go again. Not in this life, not in the next, not ever. She's the sun. Without her I'm lost. I didn't realize that until that day on the roof as Inoue was healing her. That's when I realized, everything is useless without her. There's no way I'm letting her go just like that ever again. I shook my head and began to swear under my breath.

"Argh!"

She ran, I've never seen her run so fast before. No, I've never seen her run from _**me.**_I can't say I don't blame her after not visiting her for god knows how long. Toushiro could've made her fall for him anytime, but no, that didn't happen. But I've been such a jerk that I really just wanna kick myself for it. But right now, I'm pretty sure of one thing and one thing only.

I never want to leave her side.

"PEOPLE WHO'VE JUST BEEN DISCHARGED FROM THE FOURTH DIVISION SHOULDN'T BE RUNNING, DAMMIT!"


	12. Guilt

f"Rukia, wait up!" called out Ichigo as he ran after the petite, raven haired girl. She didn't look back, this made Ichigo swear. He sprinted as fast as he possibly could. People on the street were staring at them, probably wondering why a girl was running away from a guy hollering at her. This went on for a few more minutes before Rukia slipped on a puddle, Ichigo grabbed her by the wrist. They were locked in a rather long gaze before she tried to shake herself out of his iron grasp.

"Lemme go! Let me go you dick-head!"

Ichigo twitched at this insult; he never really liked that word. "No! Listen to me Rukia, I'm really so-" The girl quickly pulled her arm back when he wasn't paying attention, she had her hands balled into fist and had on the most deadly glare ever.

"You never visited, called, or wrote you piece of shit!" she hissed. Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"Didn't your precious Nii-sama ever tell you it's rude to call people pieces of shit?"

He stopped and looked down at her. "But if you've got something to say, say it. I wanna listen to you." Rukia blinked a couple of times before continuing.

"Ok, now let's start with the day I awoke in the hospital now, shall we? Imagine my surprise when I woke up to see Hitsugaya-taichou sitting beside my bed and not you. Imagine my surprise when I was informed that you had not visited me while I was asleep. Imagine my surprise when for three, _FREAKIN' WEEKS YOU DIDN'T VISIT ME ONCE!" _Ichigo was taken aback, she never yelled this loud before. She shook her head, staring at him straight in the eye.

"Why didn't you visit me Ichigo?"

He stared at her for awhile and sighed, "I don't know." Rukia looked at him before she gritted her teeth, clenching her fists so hard her nails were digging into her skin.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW?"

He stepped back and raised his hands, "Wait, I do know but I'm afraid If I tell you, you'll never want to see me again, or maybe it might ruin our friendship. So I'm pretty sure you'd freak out if I did tell you and I've never really told anyone something like this before and all…" Rukia folded her arms as Ichigo continued to ramble on about God knows what. Her eyebrows furrowed, she squinted and said in a deadly tone rather slowly.

"Try me."

The orange haired boy went red and scoffed, "Trust me, you don't want to know." The petite shinigami pushed a strand of her wet hair out of her face, the rain still crashing down onto the pair. She glowered at him and said, putting as much venom as she possibly could, "_What? _You better tell me now, Strawberry, or I'll kick it out of you." He mumbled a couple of swear words before he looked up at the sky. No sign of the sun. Just rain, reminding him terribly of the day his mother sacrificed herself for him. His bangs were wet and were falling onto his eyelids. He hated rain, he knows that, and he knows the girl in front of him has been through the same experience.

"Rukia… I'm not very good at stuff like this so I'm going to ask you again, are you sure you _**really **_wanna hear this?"

The smaller girl gave him a rather warning look before nodding slowly. He took a deep breath, at least several before continuing.

"The reason why I didn't visit you at all was because I felt guilty and felt it was my fault that you were in the hospital."

"Figures."

The orange haired teen gave Rukia a death glare; she rolled her eyes and waved her hand to make him continue.

"Ok, as I was saying, I did come to the Soul Society once, I was actually outside your door and I heard Ishida, Inoue and Sado inside. I couldn't bear to talk to you in front of them. So I waited, soon as I kept on waiting to visit the guiltier I felt, that's where Momo came in." Rukia flinched as she heard Ichigo call Hinamori by her first name.

"She told me something, something I should've realized god knows how long ago, she told me to listen to my heart, corny, I know, but sometimes crap like that really helps, Rukia, she made me realize…." He took a deep breath before staring at her, straight in the eye.

"I love you."

Rukia stared at him blankly for a few moments before her eyes widened, looking as if though they might bulge out of their sockets. She was like that awhile more before she began to take a few steps back; she turned and began to sprint. Ichigo raised an eyebrow and yelled, "Wait! Where are you going?" He began to chase her yet again; ten minutes went by before Ichigo felt that he had lost her. As he was about to turn away and head back home he heard sobs coming from a distance. Ichigo walked into the park and turned to see Rukia crouching behind a tree, her arms wrapped around her legs and her face buried into it. The orange haired shinigami took a few steps further before the girl turned her head, looking at him; tears were streaming down her face.

"Leave me alone."

He raised an eyebrow, "Why? What? What's the deal, running away from me like that?" Rukia gulped and growled, stuttering uncontrollably. "W-why? W-why do you feel that for me? I don't deserve it." She shook her head while muttering "I'm pathetic" at least a thousand times. Ichigo fell to his knees, staring at the top of her head, "No. You're not." She looked up at him, anger in her eyes.

"Yes! I am, I am, I AM! I'm a pathetic, useless, selfish, good for nothing little-"

"No, you're caring, kind, beautiful, funny and everything a person needs in them. Sure, you can be irritating and annoying at times but that's why I love you." The raven haired girl stood up, looking down at Ichigo who was still on both his knees. "Stop that, right now. I don't deserve anything from you Ichigo, I'm a horrible person. You're just making things harder for me. It would be all the better if you just, stayed out of my life completely." She gave him one more look before turning, her back facing him. She began to walk away but Ichigo stood up, his hands in his pockets.

"Is that what Kuchiki Rukia is all about? Turning down a guy that saved her from death? The type of guy who's willing to die for her, and her only?"

"Shut up! If only you knew Ichigo… What I did before I met you! What I did that I'll never forgive myself for! What I di-"

"I know Rukia! I know exactly what you're talking about! I know all about it…" He pursed his lips and yelled.

"I know about Shiba Kaien!"

The girl stopped in her tracks, she slowly turned to him, and her eyes wide, her hands were no longer fists. She stood there like a little lost girl.

"H-how do you know about that?"

Ichigo rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, "Well… someone told me about it about a week ago."

* * *

Ichigo flipped a page as he heard a loud thump; the boy groaned and scanned the page of the book he was reading. He was getting rather used to this sound, the thump he had been hearing every day for the past two weeks.

"Nice morning isn't it, Momo?"

The Fifth division lieutenant grabbed a paper fan that was tucked into her Shinigami waist band (I honestly have no idea on what that white strap around her waist is called, *sigh* Sue me) and wacked the orange haired shinigami with it. HARD.

"Ichigo-kun, how long has Rukia-san been in the hospital for?"

"Two weeks."

He led out a yelp as she wacked him on the head once again. "That is correct; you have been hurting her for two weeks. I'm sure you're happy with yourself so I'm glad to inform you that you've been awarded the title, 'Moron of the year'." The boy groaned and sat up, staring at the girl in front of him. "Jeez, you're not my mum or sister, seriously Momo; I'll visit her when I want!" Hinamori blinked at him. She realized that Ichigo had never really mentioned his mum before.

"Hey Ichigo-kun, do you have a mother?"

Ichigo's head shot up, staring at her wide-eyed. His scowl deepened and said coldly, "Correction, I _had _a mother." Hinamori clasped a hand over her mouth, "O-oh, I'm so sorry I didn't mean to-"

"Don't sweat it. It's fine."

The girl sat down, looking up at him. "Would you mind telling me about her?" Ichigo flung his legs off the bed, setting them down on the floor as he sat and stared at the brown haired girl in front of him. He stroked his chin, wondering if he should actually tell her about his mother and her death. Ichigo's not even told Rukia about it, but Hinamori was different, she was very similar to his little sister Yuzu in many ways, he decided that for the first time ever, he'd open up about his past to someone.

She listened attentively as he told her about his mother, how she was the centre of him and his family's universe, how everything revolved around her. Hinamori could tell that his mother was unbelievably attractive by the way he described her. Ichigo went on to tell her about his time in the dojo and how Tatsuki always made him cry whenever she gave him a good punch to the gut, but whenever his mum arrived he would smile almost immediately. Her heart practically plunged into her stomach as he described the day of her death and how he had found out that she was actually killed by Grand Fisher. When his story had finally ended, Hinamori realized that it had taken him at least several minutes to tell his tale. She scratched her head and tried to process everything he had just told her. Hinamori remembered a certain thing and looked up, asking him a question.

"When she died, it was raining, am I correct?"

Ichigo gave a slight nod. Hinamori pursed her lips and said softly, "You're tale is very similar to the one of Rukia-san's, Ichigo-kun." His eyebrows shot up at this statement. "What? What do you mean? Rukia's been through the same thing before?" he questioned. Hinamori cocked her head to the side and realized that no one had told him about what Rukia had did before she had met him. She gave a deep breath and stared Ichigo straight in the eye.

"Ichigo-kun, have you ever heard of the man named Shiba Kaien?"

He ran his fingers through his hair and racked his brain for any mention of that name. He looked down at her as soon as he remembered, "Shiba Kaien. Yes, I do remember someone mentioning him. If I'm not mistaken, he was the thirteenth division fuku taichou and Ganjyu's older brother. I heard he was killed by a shinigami." Hinamori nodded before continuing. "Do you know who was that shinigami was?" Ichigo shook his head.

"It was Rukia-san."

The boy's eyes practically bulged out of their sockets. "N-nani? Rukia? No, there's no way in hell Rukia would ever do something like that…" The girl raised a hand to silence him. "That's the point. She didn't do it on purpose." Ichigo crossed his legs and listened as Hinamori continued.

"When Rukia-san was promoted to an officer, everyone treated her differently because she was Kuchiki-taichou's adopted sister. They were terrified of her because of him." Hinamori glowered at Ichigo as he was heard mumbling Byakuya's name followed by a long list of swear words.

"Anyways, she really hated it, until she met Shiba-fuku taichou. He treated her differently than anyone else had ever since she got adopted. This took her highly by surprise. Soon they began training with each other; he taught her everything she needed to know." Hinamori gave a slight pause and continued. "Shiba-fuku taichou had a wife." This surprised Ichigo, he would've thought that Kaien was about Rukia's age. "He loved her dearly and she was Rukia-san's idol. Then that's when it happened. A hollow had eaten the souls of his wife and her team. He got really angry and decided to go look for it, Rukia-san and Ukitake-taichou followed willingly. The found it and the hollow began to tease Shiba-fuku taichou about it eating his wife. He got so enraged that he practically lunged himself at the hollow, but somehow, the hollow overpowered him. He had taken control over his body, much like your hollow Ichigo-kun. Yes I know about it, stop giving me that look. So when it did it got Shiba fuku-taichou to attack Rukia-san. She ran while Ukitake-taichou fought him. Rukia-san began to realize she was being a coward and ran back, just to see Shiba-fukutaichou flying to her, so she had no choice but to pierce her blade through his heart." Ichigo pursed his lips; he never knew Rukia had gone through the same thing as him, losing someone she loved.

"Funny that it was raining when she killed him."

He looked at the floor; he couldn't imagine Rukia ever going through that, he closed his eyes, his mind exploding like fireworks. "You know, she blames herself a lot for that, and whenever she starts insulting herself it's probably because of that day. Ichigo-kun… Did you know…" his eyes opened as he looked at her, he cocked his head to the side.

"Shiba-fuku taichou looks exactly like you."

The substitute shinigami stopped breathing, he couldn't believe his ears. "W-wait, what?" Hinamori sighed, "Well, the only differences between you two was that he had blue eyes, longer eyelashes and jet-black hair. I've met him once when I was promoted to vice captain. I have a picture of him." She slipped her hand into her shihakusho and pulled a photo out, it was a picture of all the vice captains. He realized that everyone he knew was there, from Omaeda to Nemu, but there was one shinigami who caught his eye. He squinted at the black haired shinigami staring straight back at him; he had the goofiest grin plastered across his face. Ichigo nearly fell back as he realized the man was a splitting image of himself.

"I seen you've found him. Yes, that is Shiba Kaien."

He closed his eyes yet again, trying to handle all the amount of information he had just discovered. Does that mean that whenever Rukia looked at him, she had to hide the guilt of how he resembled the person she killed so much? He couldn't take it. Knowing that the usual Rukia he knew, a complete bad ass who knew practically everything (or at least she'd like to think so) was actually just a little girl, deep inside. He opened his eyes as he realized Hinamori was gripping him by the shoulders.

"Are you okay, Ichigo-kun?"

The boy gave a small nod, even though his lips were pursed.

"Yeah. I'll get over it."

* * *

He looked back at her. Her eyes still wide, Rukia couldn't believe her ears, Ichigo knew about Kaien. Now she could never face him. She turned, her back facing him.

"So you know, huh? Well that's nice, all the more reason to stay away from you."

"Wait! Rukia! So what if I look like him? I don't give a damn about what you did, we've all done a bit of wrong am I right?

"But you don't understand!"

Ichigo jerked back as Rukia spun to him, her eyes filled with tears. "You don't! Do you want to know something Ichigo? I tend to use you sometimes; sometimes I use you as a reminder of Kaien-dono. I look at you and I see him in you. I'm sorry Ichigo, but sometimes when I think of you, his image consumes yours, that is what makes me guilty. You don't deserve the love of someone who looks very similar to someone you admired and killed. Especially when that person's image consumes the image of the one that loves you. That's horrible of me! I'm using you. Just for my sake. I'm selfish, SELFISH! So now that you're aware of the horrible person that I am, I hope you have a good life without me." She had only managed to walk a few steps before she felt herself being spun around. She gulped as she found herself looking up and into Ichigo's amber eyes. He was holding her by the shoulders firmly.

"I don't care. I don't care if you step on me, kick me, punch me or put me through hell. I especially don't care if you think it's your fault you put that Kaien guy out of his misery, I don't care if my image gets consumed by his. All I really care about is that I'm with _**you.**_ We... we can work this out; I can try to make myself appear in your heart without him appearing." He said, rubbing the back of his head with a faint blush appearing on his cheeks. Rukia went wide eyed.

"No, no, no, I can't. I'm horrible, I killed him, I brought misery onto his family and I'll bring misery onto you if you continue to stay by my side."

The raven-haired girl gasped as she felt herself being pulled into a warm embrace. She could feel the sound of someone's heart beating loudly against her eardrum. She realized that the heartbeat belonged to Ichigo.

"Look… I know that you've probably been blaming yourself for god knows how long about this, but… I'm willing to listen to everything you've gotta say. Let me lighten the load you're carrying, I'll tell you about my past if you let me in on yours, okay? Just… don't handle all of this by yourself anymore." Rukia began to feel more tears on their way. She decided to go with Ichigo's offer. The shinigami buried her head into his chest while breaking out into uncontrollable sobs. Ichigo didn't say a word before he looked to the sky. He gave a faint smile as he did so.

"It look's like the rains going to stop."

* * *

Renji led out a incredibly loud groan. "Jesus! This has to be one of the most boring days ever! I mean, seriously! Look outside! It's raining cats and dogs! I swear to god I might go crazy if this goes on another hour!" he ranted. Renji, Kira and Hisagi were sitting at the bar of a restaurant.

Amazingly, they managed to join Hitsugaya along.

"Shut up Abarai, another word out of you and I'll stab my fork into your forehead." Hitsugaya threatened while taking a sip of his tea. (While the three men drank sake) Kira took another drink and turned to the snowy haired captain. "Demo… Hitsugaya-taichou, I don't recall you being able to order from a menu before." Hisagi slammed his fist onto the table, "You're right! You've never been to a restraint in quite a while, am I right taichou?" Hitsugaya stared at the three before turning a bright shade of pink. He pulled his collar and held his tea up to his lips before muttering loud enough for the three men to hear before he drank his tea.

"Kuchiki."

Renji dropped his sake; Hisagi nearly fell out of his seat while Kira's eyes bulged out of their sockets.

"Um… I'm sorry Hitsugaya-taichou but…. Did you just say _Rukia_ was the one who thought you how to order from a menu?" asked Renji, Hitsugaya realized on how he emphasized Rukia's name. "Yeah… that's what I said. So what? Is it so bad that Kuchiki was the one who taught me? God I'm really regretting taking this break with you guys." The captain was smart enough to note to not call Rukia by her first name in front of any of their friends, mostly because they'd overreact and jump to horrendously wrong conclusions (Like when he accidentally called Rukia by her first name in front of Matsumoto, thankfully he sent her off for a sake break before she asked any questions) that he hated. Hisagi raised the sake bottle and pour a large amount into his mouth. He wiped his lips before raising his index finger and swaying, "I wish… I could be like that! Act so cool and stuff, if Rangiku-san was my fuku taichou I would-" he was cut off by Hitsugaya shoving a large amount of tissue paper into his mouth.

"Please, don't go into details." He said in a rather annoyed tone.

Hisagi gave a rather slight nod. Kira's eyebrows shot up as Hitsugaya felt a pair of arms throwing itself around his neck.

"Momo, would you please get off of me?"

Hinamori stood back up, her hands on her hips. "Wow Shiro-chan! How did you know that it was me and not Rangiku-san?" she asked. Hitsugaya took a sip off his tea and simply stated.

"That's because the size of your chest is too small to match Matsumoto's."

Hinamori quickly grabbed the nearest object she could find (which was Hisagi's Zanpaku-to leaning against his stool) and bonked him on the head rather hard.

"Toshiro! You big pervert! I can't believe you pay attention to that!"

Renji gave a chuckle, "Hinamori, he's not being a pervert; no chest in this world is even comparable to Matsumoto-fuku taichou's, with the exception of Orihime of course."

"Did I hear my nammme?"

The others turned to see Matsumoto swaying behind them, holding a HUGE bottle of sake. Hitsugaya face palmed, "Matsumoto, didn't I leave a stack of paperwork for you to deal with?" The busty vice captain raised an eyebrow, "What paperwork? Are you talking about the ones that I fed to Kurotsuchi taichou's lab subjects?" Hitsugaya stared at her in horror, he wasn't sure whether she was joking or not because when Matsumoto was drunk, she did almost anything.

And I mean ANYTHING.

Hinamori clasped her hands together, "Oh! Did you guys hear? Rukia-san's been discharged from the hospital!" she exclaimed, smiling wide. Hitsugaya took another sip of his tea, he knew this already, she had visited him the minute she got out.

"Do you know where she is? I would like to see her." Said Kira, which was joined by a wave of shouts of agreement from Renji and Hisagi.

Matsumoto rubbed her neck. "If I'm not mistaken… I heard Kuchiki-taichou telling Unohana-taichou that she was at the real world" –Hitsugaya looked up, his eyes wide- "to visit Ichigo." The room was silent. Everyone knew that Ichigo had not visited her for weeks, Hitsugaya knew this the most. He was surprised that she had gone to see Ichigo already; she had not mentioned that fact to him when she had seen him a few hours ago.

"Well!" said Hisagi, breaking the silence, "That's too bad for Renji! I bet he would've wanted her to stay a bit longer!" he teased, giving Renji a wink while nudging his friend by the arm.

Renji went as red as a tomato, "That's so not true! Stop telling lie's Hisagi!" he yelled while grabbing Hisagi into an arm wrench and giving him a noogie. The gang laughed. Hinamori stifled a giggle before taking a glimpse of Hitsugaya, he was deep in thought. _"Rukia's already gone back huh?"_ After a few moments a smirk appeared on his lips.

"_I hope she remembered to kick Kurosaki for me."_

* * *

Ichigo and Rukia were walking down the street, hand in hand. The sun was shining brightly, no longer raining. Rukia sneezed and sniffed, _'Someone must be thinking of me.' _She suddenly remembered the promise she made Hitsugaya and kicked Ichigo hard in the shin. The orange haired boy led out a yell before jumping, "Oi! You stupid midget! What the _hell_ was that for?" Rukia rolled her eyes.

"A present from Hitsugaya-taichou."

Ichigo swore under his breath, making a note to pulverize the other midget the next time he sees him. "By the way, why did you decide to return to the real world?" he asked, Rukia blinked, "Oh, Inoue asked me to, she said you've been really down and she thinks that you'd cheer up if I visited you." Ichigo gave a smile; Orihime was so kind to him. Rukia led out a sigh and clasped a hand over her heart, "You know, I'm so glad I finally got that off my chest, I've been dreading the day that I had to tell you about Kaien-dono. Renji didn't really know how to talk about it and Nii-sama's always busy. Everyone else doesn't really know how to respond. I felt so lost and sad, I felt like I was alone with no one to help me." Ichigo stopped, turning to Rukia, he used the hand that was not holding tightly onto Rukia's hand and tucked a strand of hair behind her hears.

"And I found you." He said, smiling. His scowl no longer there.

"Thank you for finding me." She thanked.

The two stared at each other for awhile before there was a loud gasp and a rather loud voice yell in surprise behind them.

"Ehh? Kuchiki-san? Kurosaki-kun?"

The two turned to the voice and saw Orihime standing a few feet away from them. She was holding two bags of groceries, filled with strange types of food no doubt. The two quickly pulled their hands back and hid them behind their backs. Orihime ran towards the pair and smiled.

"So you two have finally reunited huh?"

Ichigo and Rukia smiled. The orange haired boy took a few steps forward, "Hey, Inoue… is it true that you asked Rukia to come visit me as soon as she got discharged?" Orihime stared into his amber eyes and smiled, blushing slightly.

"Ahaha, yeah I did, I hope you don't mind though! I just thou-"

She was cut off as Ichigo threw his arms around her, Orihime went as red as a person could possibly get and stuttered, "K-kurosaki-kun?" Ichigo nodded.

"Thank you, thank you so much Inoue. I'm really grateful."

She stared at Rukia who was standing in front of them; she had the strangest smirk on her and mouthed, _"You're welcome." _Orihime looked at her for awhile before raising an arm to wrap itself around Ichigo's back.

"Y-you're welcome Kurosaki-kun, I'm glad to help."

He pulled himself away, smiling at her. "Thank you." He thanked once again. She blushed yet again at the sight of his smile. She gave a slight nod at him and at Rukia. She smiled before running away, screaming in her head about the fact that her love of a lifetime just hugged her.

As soon as she turned to corner Ichigo rejoined his hands with Rukia's and squeezed it lightly. "You're not mad or burning with jealousy are you?" he simply asked, raising an eyebrow. Rukia shook her head.

"Of course not baka, I'm not that possessive."

The taller of the two smiled smugly and said, "Good because I'd like you to know that I only want you."

Rukia looked at him once before turning away, her face burning. When Ichigo was in love, he really was a flirt. She took a deep breath and sighed as she thought to herself.

'_Ichigo you big baka-mono.'_

* * *

**End of chapter 12! I hope you like it! It's longer than it's supposed to be… But ah who cares. And don't fret my dear readers! This is not the end of our tale! There's another three more chapters (I think there's three) before the end of the main story plot, then there will be mini stories on all the dates of the shinigami's! So be patient! ;D Oh, Have you guys read the newest bleach chapters? OH. MY. GOD. Ichigo is bad ass again! He looks awesome! Heh. I'm such a big Ichigo fan girl. Read and review! You know it loves you~~ **


	13. Visit to the Soul Society

"ICHIGO!" Rukia bellowed, hands on her hips. Ichigo groaned, setting his book down and stared at the raven haired girl. "You big idiot! I thought I told you that we're going to the Soul Society today!' the orange haired boy raised an eyebrow. This scene was all too familiar to him.

"Please tell me we're not visiting your brother again."

Rukia gritted her teeth, "No you fool, do you think he'd actually invite you to his house after that little outburst of yours about him being a flower loving, girly haired idiot?" she rolled her eyes as she said this. Ichigo sat up and rubbed his neck, "Yeah I know that and all but... why so soon? Just after a week of being discharged from the fourth division?" he asked, raising any eyebrow. There was a small twinkle in her eye before she gave a smug smirk.

"You'll see."

The minute the door swung open, a petite girl attacked the taller of the pair and yelled, "ICHIGO-KUN YOU BIG MORON!" the substitute shinigami sighed as he was greeted by Hinamori's fist punching him in the stomach.

"You haven't spoken to me in a week! How insensitive is that, strawberry?"

"It's nice to see you too Momo."

Rukia gave a slight smile before looking at the other people in the room.

"Renji, Matsumoto fuku taichou, Hisagi fuku taichou,"

She gave a slight pause before her eyes were on a young, white haired boy staring out the window.

"Hitsugaya taichou." Her smile was wider than before.

The captain gave her a quick glance and nodded. She returned the nod and glanced back at Ichigo and a rather angry Hinamori. She smiled, shaking her head at the two. Matsumoto giggled and looked back at her captain.

"Taichou! Didn't you want to tell Rukia something?" she asked in her usual bubbly tone.

Hitsugaya looked at her for a few moments before turning back to the window and smiled.

"Nah, I'll talk to her later."

Ichigo made his way to the vice captains across the room. The minute he reached them he asked before sitting down next to Renji. "How were your dates?" this question was accompanied by a bunch of groans. He raised a brow at this. "That bad?" Renji went first "This stupid matchmaking thing was horrible! Nemu barely even talks about anything but Kurotsuchi-taichou. Stuff like, "I have to be back before 12 or Mayuri-sama wouldn't be pleased,' 'Mayuri sama would be very disappointed If I drank that,' Mayuri sama this, Mayuri sama that, It's so annoying!" Ichigo sighed, "She sounds like a modern day Cinderella." The other three stared at him for a few moments before Ichigo shrugged his shoulders.

"Never mind."

It was Matsumoto's turn to rant, "Kyoraku is a total pig! All he kept on rambling on about was how his precious Nanao-chan was on a date with his best friend." She spat onto the floor, missing Hisagi by an inch. Ichigo snapped his fingers.

"Oh yeah! How did Nanao-san and Ukitake-san's date go?"

"I don't know," said Matsumoto, "She hasn't spoken to anyone about it."

Hisagi gave a slight chuckle, "Maybe she doesn't wanna talk about it because Ukitake taichou coughed blood all over her outfit." He winced as Renji elbowed him in the rib. "How 'bout you, Hisagi-san?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow, "was Yoruichi as tricky as she is with you as she is with me?" Hisagi groaned. "She scares me. Her punches are painful," He blinked and rubbed his elbow, "and long lasting." Hisagi gave Renji a deadly glare as Renji had to choke on his tea to suppress his laughter.

"Looks like you guys had a great time." Said Ichigo in a highly sarcastic tone.

"How about you taichou?" asked Matsumoto, turning to Hitsugaya, "Did you enjoy your day with Rukia?" Renji made a 'pfft' sound and rolled his eyes.

"Well of course it went well; he's practically fallen in love with her."

Everyone shuddered as a cold breeze swept through the room. Hitsugaya stopped staring out the window and stared at Renji with his usual stone cold expression. "Abarai... if you EVER jump to such rash conclusions again..." Ichigo began to feel terrible sorry for Renji as Hitsugaya tapped the hilt of Hyourinmaru and smirked.

"Understood taichou. Please don't kill me." He begged.

Renji gave a huge sigh of relief as Hitsugaya nodded and looked away. The others continued their chatter as the cool weather subsided. Hinamori rubbed her hands together before asking, "Are you feeling better, Rukia-san?" The Kuchiki girl nodded as she said this, "Yes, much better, thank you for asking." Hinamori frowned as Renji placed a hand onto Rukia's shoulder. "Rukia... could I talk to you for a moment?" he glanced at the others in the room and continued in a solemn tone.

"Alone."

Everyone went silent as Renji led Rukia out the room. Ichigo raised an eyebrow at this, "What's with him? Is h hiding something from us?" Matsumoto shrugged her shoulders, "You know how Renji feels about Rukia, she's practically like his own sister to him. He's probably worried about her health and such." She concluded. Hisagi nodded in agreement before poking Ichigo's cheek.

"Yeah Kurosaki, you probably were the reason why she was driven to a mental break down."

Hitsugaya's eyes snapped at this, he looked at the orange haired boy and asked, "Did Kuchiki kick you when she saw you again?" Ichigo suddenly felt a sharp pain in his shin and rubbed it, "Yeah, thank you for the gift Toshiro." He thanked through gritted teeth. The younger looking boy rolled his eyes at this and answered, "That's Hitsugaya-taichou to you, anyways, what time is it? I think I've taken a long enough break." He got up and said his goodbyes, as he passed Hinamori he whispered softly so that only she could hear.

"I'll visit Rukia on my way back, okay?"

Hinamori nodded and gave him a smile before he left. She stopped smiling as she turned to face the other three people in the room. "Now... who wants to play Charades?"

"So Renji," said Rukia as soon as they sat down at the sixth division porch," what was it that you wanted to tell me?" Renji shrugged, "Nothing much... Are you feeling better?" the girl nodded.

"Much better. I don't feel as weak as I did before." She smiled as she flexed her fingers.

Renji pursed his lips, "Good. That's... good." So everything's alright with you?" Rukia stared at him in confusion, "Yeah everything's fine. What;s wrong Renji? You're acting kinda weird." The red haired shinigami sighed.

"Nah... how about you and Ichigo? You two still friends?"

"Of course Renji, why wouldn't we be?"

He shook his head, "Come on Rukia, if I'm not mistaken you were really pissed at him for not visiting you in the fourth division for three consecutive weeks! What happened when you saw him again?" She laughed as he asked this, "Seriously Renji, do you actually think I'm the type of person to hold a grudge for that long a time?" she stopped laughing as she remembered Renji's question. "Oh. What happened? Well... I just gave him the usual thump on the head and we had an argument. You know me and Ichigo's relationship, right? We're friends one second and the next we're scratching each other's eyes out." Rukia lied about Ichigo and her reunion, she wasn't planning on telling Renji about the emotionality of their reunion the two had just a week ago.

"Yeah... the love hate one." Said Renji giving a smile.

Rukia nodded. She grinned as Renji got up, "I better get going. Taichou's probably wondering where I am."

They gave each other a quick hug before he left the room. Rukia watched as Renji made his way out. She looked back at the garden in front of her and shut her eyes tight before swinging her legs. She listened as the birds chirped in a soulful tune. Rukia enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere. She hadn't really experienced something like this in a week. Maybe the time she and Ichigo sat on the roof a few days ago counted. That is... it did count until his family walked in.

"Enjoying the peace and quiet?"

"Yeah, haven't experienced it for awhile."

She opened her eyes as Hitsugaya sat down next to her. "Yeah, same here, but with Matsumoto as your fuku taichou you don't get much peace now, do you?" Rukia smiled as she nodded, If Matsumoto were her brother's vice captain he'd probably kill her.

"I haven't seen you in awhile."

"A week to be exact." She added, relaxing her shoulders a bit.

Hitsugaya did the same, "Kurosaki told me you remembered to send him that present I asked you to deliver." She chuckled as the memory of Ichigo hopping like a mad man flashed into her mind. "Of course, I wouldn't forget something like THAT. No, that's too important to forget." The captain leant back, supporting himself with his arms. "So what happened, when you two saw each other again?" Rukia groaned, "Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow, "What did you two make out or something?" the raven haired girl blushed furiously.

"No you pervert! I can't I can't believe you could actually say that?"

She gave a huge sigh and shrugged her shoulders, "I told him about Kaien-dono." Hitsugaya sat up as he heard this, "Oh really? How did that go?" he asked, Rukia rubbed her temples and continued.

"Emotional. A lot more emotional than I would've thought."

He ran his fingers through his hair, "Define emotional." "I cried." The white haired boys eyes widened, "You cried? Whoa I'm gonna kill Kurosaki." He threatened, shaking his fist. Rukia rolled her eyes and lowered his hand, "Please Hitsugaya-taichou, it's my fault Ichigo didn't visit me." The boy groaned.

"God Rukia, for once could you _please_ stop blaming yourself for nearly everything wrong in this world?"

"She scoffed at this, who knew Hitsugaya exaggerated on things?" She suddenly remembered Orihime and sighed.

"What? Is there something wrong?"

"No, nothing, It's just that..." she gripped her knees and led out a deep breath.

"Inoue told me about her feelings for Ichigo."

Hitsugaya pursed his lips as she said this. He knew perfectly well about Orihime's feelings for Ichigo, he was there when she cried to Matsumoto about her jealousy on how close Rukia and Ichigo were. "And? How did you react to that?" he asked. "I told her that she doesn't need to worry about it and I'd visit Ichigo as soon as I got discharged from the fourth division."

"Why did she suddenly tell you about her feelings for Kurosaki?"

"Long story?"

Rukia looked at Hitsugaya and asked.

"So how's you and Hinamori?"

The tenth division captain, who was closing his eyes opened one of them and looked at Rukia.

"Sorry?"

"How are you and Hinamori lately?"

Hitsugaya rubbed the back of his neck, "It's fine... We did get into this really big fight the other day." The petite girl raised her head, "What? You two had a fight? Aren't you guys like... cousins?" He snorted at this, "Very funny. I'm laughing so hard my innards hurt." He joked. "Well, sorry and all but I didn't actually plan on telling anyone about it..." Rukia shook her head and smiled, "Don't worry about it; it's none of my business anyways." She looked back at the captain.

"Why did you come here? To see me."

"Oh," he said, "Well I just wanted to know how your reunion with Kurosaki went." She snapped her fingers, "So Hinamori invited us here so that she could talk to Ichigo, am I right?" Hitsugaya shook his head, "Not precisely, she just thought that you guys should hang out with us for awhile." They sat in silence before Hitsugaya got up and brushed his shihakusho. "I better get going, I said I'd be going back to my office, still got tons of paperwork to finish." They waved goodbye. Rukia sat there for a few moments before wondering out loud.

"I wonder how the others are doing."

"CHICKEN!"

"No stupid, HE'S A RAMEN NOODLE!"

Hisagi and Matsumoto were yelling like there was no tomorrow. Hinamori sighed as the two began arguing with each other on whether Ichigo was acting as a chicken or a ramen noodle. After a few moments Ichigo threw his arms in the air.

"No you uneducated baboons! I'm a SHARK. When in the name of all that's logical did a shark look like a chicken OR a ramen noodle?" he yelled, his lungs practically bursting.

"You're horrible at charades." Matsumoto simply stated. Yeah Kurosaki, your shark imitation was horrible. I mean seriously how is this supposed to look like a shark?" He exclaimed, clasping his hands together and raising it above his head and puffing his cheeks as he waddled around the room.

"You barbarian," Ichigo rolled his eyes, "I so did NOT waddle."

"You sooo did."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did."

"NO. I. DIDN'T."

"YES. YOU. DID."

"NO I DIDN'T YOU HAIRY ASS!"

"YES YOU DID YOU SHINY ASS!"

"..."

"..."

"Isn't that better than being a hairy ass?"

"..."

Matsumoto leant back and groaned, "Shuuhei got owned." Hisagi stomped his foot," I didn't get owned! I merely made a small mistake." He insisted. Ichigo made a cough sound while Matsumoto gave a loud giggle.

"How old are we again?"

Hisagi jumped as Rukia stepped from the door, her arms crossed. "Please, I've seen LINT with a bigger maturity level than you," she teased which made him turn even red. The others began to laugh which made him turn even redder. The laughter subsided as a hell butterfly flew through the opened window.

'_Breaking news from Restu Unohana, the fourth division captain. In celebration of the success of the matchmaking event by the women's shinigami association, a dance has been arranged on Wednesday night. Be sure to attend as it is a compulsory. Thank you."_

The shinigami's in the room watched as the butterfly flew out. Soon the whole of Seireitei shook as the screams of five youngsters echoed through area.

**RANT! RANT! RANT ON CHAPTER 423! Ok... I swear to god I was gonna cry when I read this chapter. Really, I read it in my DT class and I was like, "Yay! Aizen's gonna get imprisoned for centuries!" and all and I was so happy and stuff and at the end I saw Ichigo and I was like, Aw Ichigo cut his hair T-T and THEN... I see Rukia and I fangirl squeal. Then the next thing you know they're saying goodbye to each other and I'm all like, "What? What? WHAT?" and Rukia starts saying stuff like she'll still be able to see him and I'm all like, "WHAT IN TARNATION IS GOING ON HERE?" and then the next page Ichigo and Rukia are standing SO CLOSE and I screamed... BECAUSE RUKIA WAS FADING AWAY! I was twitching and Rukia was just disappearing and I was screaming, "ICHIGO YOU MORON! GO HUG HER!" and then she was gone and Ichigo just looked at the sky and said, "Thank you" and THE CHAPTER ENDED! It was so sweet and sad I was gonna tear then I read at the bottom that Bleach is on a TWO FREAKIN' WEEK HIATUS and my sadness turned to PURE ANGER! ARGH!**


	14. Dance party

"I demand an explanation, Kurosaki." Said Hitsugaya as looked at Ichigo from top to bottom. "Don't. Wanna. Talk. About. It." Ichigo said through gritted teeth.

"Seriously, who said anything about wearing a tux?"

"Shut up Hisagi. I said I don't want to talk about it."

"Haha! Epic fail, Ichigo!"

"SHUT UP, RENJI!"

Ichigo was twitching as the boys began to laugh at him and his wardrobe blunder. "I don't get it Kurosaki," said Hitsugaya, folding his arms, "Why don't you just change into your Shinigami form?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. The orange haired boy slowly turned to face the captain. His eye was still twitching.

"I. Am. In. My. Shinigami. Form."

"Oh."

Hitsugaya couldn't help but smile at this. The Kurosaki boy was extremely smart and all but he definitely lacked the ability to hear.

"He's not wrong."

The boys turned to see two men standing behind them. Almost immediately, all of them bowed.

With the exception of Ichigo of course.

"Kuchiki-taichou! Zaraki taichou! Good evening!" the boys greeted. Ichigo rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yo Byakuya, Kenpachi."

He gagged as Renji stepped on his foot, causing the teen to hop on one leg. "Wait a minute…" he stood back up and stared at the two captains.

"Are you two wearing… tuxedos?"

The others stood up from their position and went wide eyed at the sight of Byakuya and Kenpachi wearing the exact same outfit as Ichigo.

"Yes, that is correct," said Byakuya, adjusting his tie, "in case you were listening to the rest of Unohana-taichou's message, it goes on to say that all males should be- Renji stop staring at us like that- wearing proper attire for an occasion such as this. Now, Kurosaki, do your tie and your top button up before I show you the true meaning of pain." Ichigo quickly fixed his tie before Byakuya could do anything violent to him. The group of boys stared blankly ahead before turning to each other. A few moments went by before all of them sprinted out the room.

"So…." The substitute shinigami began, staring at the two older men.

"How were your dates?" 

Kenpachi's eyes widened while Byakuya raised an eyebrow.

"Our… dates?" Kenpachi repeated.

"Yeah," Ichigo nodded, "your dates."

The two men cringed at that word, it took a few moments before they regained their composure. The noble aristocrat smoothened his tux and gave a small cough. "You, boy, should not be sticking your nose into adult's affairs."

"Adult? No offense but counting Yachiru as an adult is really weird, even for you."

Ichigo couldn't help but smile as the image of Kenpachi's assistant jumping onto a rather annoyed looking Byakuya flashed into his mind. "So how was it?" he asked once again. Rukia's older brother eyed him dangerously before answering.

"Well Kurosaki Ichigo, if you must know, it could have been better." He glanced at the male beside him. "No offense, Zaraki." Kenpachi shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "How about you, Kenpachi?" asked Ichigo. The big sized man gave a smile as his eyes gave a twinkle. And this time his smile wasn't his usual 'I'm-gonna-slaughter-you-and-laugh-maniacally' smile but a soft, kind hearted one.

This made Ichigo shiver.

"It was marvelous," –Ichigo cringed- "Unohana is one of a kind, she thought me peace, kindness and a life without violence. I'm a changed man." He declared proudly. Ichigo's eyes looked as if though they were going to pop out of their sockets. That's when he noticed something around Kenpachi's neck.

'_A collar?' _thought Ichigo.

He took a closer look and realized it was a collar. Byakuya caught Ichigo staring and whispered.

"The collar detects if Zaraki's' being violent. If it does it electrocutes him." The youngest of the three stared at Kenpachi in disbelief. He gulped as he began to rub his neck.

"How wonderful."

The boys arrived after half an hour, panting and sweating like wild animals. Luckily for Kira, Ikkaku and Iba they heard the news of wearing a tux already.

"Where's Yumichika, Ikkaku?"

"I don't know Iba-san, he seems to have dissa-"

"HERE I AM!"

"…"

"Don't I look utterly fabu-"

"YUMICHIKA YOU BIG DISGRACE CHANGE OUTTA THAT DRESS BEFORE I KNOCK IT OFFA YA!"

"Fine, fine. Jeez, everyone's a critic."

Ichigo and the others twitched as Yumichika left the room, his long pink puffy dress dancing behind him.

"You know," said Hitsugaya, scratching his head, "I seriously think the dress was a bit too much."

"So was the birds and the squirrels."

The boys began to nod in agreement. "Where the hell are all the girls? I wanna eat already!" moaned Renji, stomping his foot like a spoiled little girl. "Dude, calm down, they'll be down soon." Assured Hisagi, patting him on the back.

"Oh look! They're he- Whoa."

The others glanced at Hitsugaya who had stopped mid sentence before looking up at the staircase. Nearly all of their jaws dropped as the girls descended the staircase, all dressed in a different styled white gown.

"The girls, have arrived!" said Matsumoto, a huge grin plastered across her face.

"Hello everyone." Hinamori greeted.

Nemu was sullen while Nanao simply pushed the rim of her glasses. Ichigo looked up as a petite girl came into view, wearing a long white gown, her hair tied up in a bun. He gave a small smile.

"Hey Rukia."

She nodded at him. He returned it and watched as she made her way down the staircase. Matsumoto twirled, throwing her hands up in the air.

"What are we waiting for? Let's get this party started!"

The others yelled in agreement as music began to blast through the room. Rukia laughed as Renji pulled her to the dance floor. Ichigo folded his arms and smiled as the two childhood friends began to goof around.

"Renji's a horrible dancer ain't he?"

Ichigo glanced down at an auburn haired girl standing next to him. He nodded, "He can't dance alright. I would've thought he was a penguin." Hinamori giggled. The two stood there in silence before Ichigo led out his hand, "Do you wanna dance?"

She stared at him wide eyed before nodding, "Sure." She gently raised her hand, placing it onto his opened one which he gripped tightly, he led her to the dance floor and they began to move to the rather fast song.

_My heart booms, at the speed of light;_

Ichigo smiled as the girl struggled to keep up with him, the minute they got to the chorus, the girl began to fumble.

_It's disgusting; how I love you;_

_God, I hate this;_

_I could kill you;_

Ichigo quickly grabbed the girl by her arm, leading her to a chair. Hinamori collapsed onto it as soon as they got to a seat. She panted and wiped the sweat forming on her face. "You suck at dancing." "Shut up, I'm a Shinigami not Michael Jackson." Ichigo stared at her, wondering how she would know who Michael Jackson was before deciding to drop it.

"Look, Shiro-chan and Rukia-san are dancing." Said Hinamori, pointing a finger at the two ice holders, dancing on the dance floor. The two seemed to be enjoying themselves. "Whoa…" began Ichigo, scratching his head, "midgets can dance!" He gagged as Hinamori elbowed him in the rib. Rukia laughed as she caught a glimpse of Ichigo getting elbowed in the rib by Hinamori. Hitsugaya followed her gaze and smiled. Ichigo and Hinamori were such a strange pair.

"Mind if I cut in?"

Hitsugaya looked up as Byakuya was standing next to him, his body turned to Rukia. Hitsugaya nodded and backed away as Byakuya took Rukia by the hand.

"Can you dance nii sama?"

The man paused and nodded slowly, "I assume I can." Rukia raised an eyebrow, _'He thinks he can.'_ She sighed as they began to dance, and surprisingly her brother was quite good. They danced slowly to the song.

Ichigo cringed as he watched the two sway to the music, "Isn't this wrong? Am I the only one in this whole room who thinks this is seriously wrong?" Hitsugaya rolled his eyes, "It's just you and your perverted way of thinking, Kurosaki. They're siblings." Ichigo took a quick glance at Hitsugaya before turning back to the two at the dance floor.

"Like you and Hinamori, but you love her, isn't that wrong as well?"

The substitute shinigami dodged a quick punch Hitsugaya had tried to knock him with. "You moron, for the last time, me and Hinamori aren't siblings!" he scolded, Ichigo gave a smug look.

"So you're not denying the fact that you love her?"

Hitsugaya's eyes widened, he sat down angrily and folded his arms, a rather bright blush on his face. "Shut up, Kurosaki." He muttered. Ichigo smiled in triumph before turning back to Byakuya and Rukia.

Her brother raised an eyebrow; Rukia cocked her head to the side. "Is there something wrong, Nii-sama?" she asked. Byakuya shook his head. "No it's just… who chose the songs that are playing tonight?" Rukia grinned, "Oh! They're all from Ichigo's IPod, it's this really interesting gadget that plays all your songs that you downloaded, they're quite nice aren't they? The songs I mean." Byakuya didn't say a word; he merely gave Ichigo a single glance before looking away. Rukia smiled, she knew very well that Byakuya would never show a hint of emotion for the Kurosaki boy, even if he wanted to. Renji grabbed a chair and pulled it out to sit next to Ichigo, he crossed both his arms and legs before sighing.

"You're just waiting to dance with Rukia ain't you?"

Ichigo gave him a rather strange look.

"What makes you say that?"

"It's so obvious you like her, strawberry."

"You're eyes are in knotholes, Rudolph the red nosed reindeer."

"WHAT THE HELL?" exclaimed Renji, getting up from his chair, "What kind of nickname is that?"

"Well you really suck at kidou, and since it's usually some really small red light, you're kind of like that reindeer that leads Santa to deliver presents at night. Rudolph."

Hinamori and Hitsugaya groaned as Ichigo and Renji were now throwing countless insults at each other. The captain gave his childhood friend a quick glance.

"Do you want to dance?"

"Oh! Heavens no! I'm all tired; I don't think I have the energy to dan-"

She was cut off as Hitsugaya grabbed her by the arm and dragging her to the dance floor. They waltzed around the room as the music played.

_Could this be outta line?_

_Say you're the only one, breaking me down like this;_

_You're the only one; I would take a shot on;_

_Keep me hanging on, so contagiously;_

"I like this song." Chirped Hinamori as Hitsugaya swayed her around the room. Hitsugaya nodded in agreement. "It's very meaningful; it kind of describes you, Shiro chan!" The captain groaned, "It's Hitsugaya-taichou, how many times do I have to remind you that?" Hinamori chuckled, she enjoyed teasing him.

"Ok, brave, strong, TALL, Taichouuu."

"That's even worse, nimrod!"

Rukia fell onto the chair that Renji had been sitting on; he had gone to the bathroom to bandage up the bloody nose Ichigo gave him. Ichigo had to follow him because Renji had scratched him on the cheek.

She sat down quietly, watching as Hitsugaya and Hinamori scooted away from Matsumoto who had claimed the dance floor the minute a fast dance song had began to play.

"How's the dance so far?"

Rukia looked up at the voice, the orange haired teen sat beside her. She smiled, "It's really fun." He raised an eyebrow, "Why aren't you dancing?" he asked. She shrugged, "Please Ichigo, do you really think I'd want to dance with Matsumoto hogging the whole floor?" he smiled; there was no doubt about that. They sat there in comfortable silence. Soon a new song had started, Matsumoto groaned for it was a slow one. Ichigo smiled, this was his chance, he got up and raised his hand out to Rukia. She gave a smile and stood up, she gently placed her hand onto his, he gave it a light squeeze as he brought her to the dance floor. They swayed to the music, keeping a pace away from the others.

_After all this time;_

_I never thought we'd be here;_

_I never thought we'd be here;_

_And though my love for you was blind;_

Rukia stared at the floor, not once looking at Ichigo. He continued to stare at her while they danced. Ichigo and Rukia have been acting the same as usual with each other despite the fact that Ichigo confessed to her, they decided that if they were to be all lovey dovey it would be disturbing. Ichigo wasn't the type of guy who was ready for that and Rukia was sure her brother would slaughter him if he did. They decided to stick with their usual bickering relationship.

"You're stepping on my toes strawberry."

"YOU'RE trampling over mine midget."

"Oh so that's how you talk to girls eh?"

"Nah, just you."

Hisagi smiled as he witnessed the two bickering, "Those two never change now do they?" Kira couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, they never do." Renji nodded, "That's the beauty of those two. They can fight from dawn to dusk but in the end they would give up their own life for the other." Byakuya made a face. "If they EVER end up together, I will roast Kurosaki's balls on a stove." The three other men stared at Byakuya, wide eyed. Byakuya merely closed his eyes and walked away. Kenpachi gave a loud groan, "This sucks! Everything is so romantic and shit, I WANT A SONG WITH VIOLENCE!" he cackled, as soon as he said this, he yelped as a loud zap was heard. He began to whimper as he rubbed his neck, the three men turned to Unohana who had her eyes shut, in her left hand she was gripping a buzzer. The three shivered.

Matsumoto had her head tilted back against the wall; she stared at the two who were now stepping on each other's foot while everyone else was dancing.

"I wish you could see this, Gin." She said softly, smiling to herself.

"If only you could stop being so stupid and come back." She said, closing her eyes and wishing.

Kyoraku made his way to Nanao, who was reading quietly at one of the tables.

"MY SWEET NANAO-CHAN! LOVELY PRETTY SEXY-"

He was cut off as Nanao grabbed her book and slammed his face with it. "Leave me alone you sick man." She opened her book once again and continued reading. "B-but… don't you wanna dance with me? Your handsome taichou?" he asked, pouting.

"You're the ugliest man I've ever met, Kyoraku-taichou." She deadpanned.

Kyoraku sighed at this and took a chair, sitting down next to his vice captain. "You're not in a very good mood today, are you Nanao-chan?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Nanao sighed, "I'm not much of a fan of events like these, they somewhat bore me." Kyoraku didn't find this event boring at all, he was now staring at a rather angry Mayuri, yelling at Renji and Hisagi to stop staring at Nemu before he dissects them with every tool he has. Kyoraku smiled and closed his eyes, the two continuing to sit in silence.

"I wish Yoruichi-sama were he-"

"Enough about that woman, taichou."

Omaeda screamed as Soi Fon jabbed a Kunai knife into his shoulder. "That's not nice! You could've killed me!" He whimpered, blood trickling down his shoulder. Soi Fon didn't even blink.

"That was what I was aiming for."

Omaeda shivered at the thought.

Rukia and Ichigo's arguing subsided, they continued to dance. After a few moments of silence Ichigo asked.

"You haven't replied."

Rukia raised an eyebrow, "Reply to what?"

"Whether you feel the same way about me."

The girl blinked a couple of times whilst staring at the teen.

"I'm so bored." Hitsugaya complained, drinking his tea. "I'd rather do paperwork then sit through another hour of this." Hinamori smiled, "You're such a bore, Hitsugaya-kun"

"Hitsugaya-taichou."

"Whatever."

"Well," she continued, ignoring Hitsugaya's words, much to his annoyance, "I for one, think that Ichigo kun and Rukia san are enjoying themselves." She stated. The white haired captain raised an eyebrow and stared at the two on the dance floor, both of them with a rather serious expression on their face. "They look really tense." He said in a rather serious tone. Hinamori turned and stared at the pair who were now looking at each other, both having the same, intense look. She smiled.

"It can't be anything serious."

Rukia raised an eyebrow, "Sorry?" she stared at him. "I asked if you feel the same way I feel about you." The orange haired boy repeated. Rukia blinked. "You wanna know if I love you too?" she asked once again, a blush spreading across her face. The taller of the two nodded.

"Yeah. It's ok if you see me as just a friend by the way."

The girl continued to stare at him, after a few moments she gave a sly smile. Ichigo winced at this. Usually when she gave this smile something bad almost always happened to him. He yelped as she gave him a swift punch in the gut. He soon felt arms wrap themselves around him. He opened his eyes to see Rukia hugging him; she had a softer smile on her face.

"What do you think idiot?"

"Um…"

"Of course I love you, you big oaf."

The two smiled, Ichigo returned her hug. Meanwhile Renji and Hisagi stared in horror as Byakuya made his way to the two, holding Senbonzakura at will, ready to slice the substitute shinigami in pieces.

**Ok folks. I'm sad to tell you that this is the end of our tale. Yes, this is the last chapter, but do no fret! This is only the beginning! After this there will be mini stories of the other shinigami's dates, so stay tuned! You'll have mini stories about the dates of Urahara and Soi Fon to Byakuya and Yachiru, including a chapter about Valentine's day in Hueco Mundo! Ichigo better prepare himself for the rather scary present Grimmjow's going to get him… Thanks! R&R!**


	15. I Get It From My Father

**Renji and Nemu**

Renji stared at Nemu; she was looking at the tea on the table, unsure of it.

"You're supposed to drink it."

Nemu glanced at him to the cup, "I don't think Mayuri-sama would be very happy if I drank that." She admitted, her face motionless. Renji groaned and rested his chin on the palm of his hand. "Come on, Kurotsuchi, it's not like it's gonna kill you or anything." He yawned, the two were sitting in a coffee place named _'Starbucks'_, neither one of them have actually been to it, and right now Renji was pressuring the girl to eat something.

"Please drink it. I'm bored and I really want to get this thing over with."

"But Mayuri-sama would-" 

"ENOUGH ABOUT THAT DAMN PSHYCO! DRINK THE TEA! YOU'RE NOT SOME CAGE ANIMAL ALRIGHT?"

Everyone was soon staring at the pair, some were whispering about how rude of a man to yell at a poor defenseless woman about being a caged animal. Renji realized this and slumped into his chair, his hands in his pockets.

"Please, I'm begging you, drink the tea."

"Why?" she asked, cocking her head to the side, "What if I do not? Is it going to kill me? Will I fall and drop dead? What good will this tea bring to my life?"

Renji gaped at her, he thought Mayuri was freaky, but now, he was pretty sure that Nemu got her weirdness from her father. "Do you _even_ eat?" he asked his eyes wide. The girl blinked.

"Thank you for buying me this wonderful tea, Abarai-san. I enjoyed it.

Renji blinked, his eye began to twitch. Soon he threw back his head and groaned. "I give up!" He grabbed Nemu by the arm and began to drag her.

"Where are we going, Abarai-san?"

"Somewhere."

"And what might that somewhere be?"

"I'm bringing you to see someone."

"Who? A friend? Relative?" 

"No, a psychologist."


	16. Heaven and Hell

**Kenpachi and Unohana**

"PISS OFF, MIDGETS!" roared Kenpachi as he stormed his way to the carousel that was being occupied by little children.

The little children shrieked as Kenpachi came thundering their way. He ignored the fact that countless parents were giving him a rather doubtful expression.

"Zaraki taichou... please, calm down. Now." Ordered Unohana, tightening her fist.

Kenpachi glared at her.

"Don't boss me around like that, woman!"

"Oh, I believe I can."

"And why is that?"

She gave an eerie smile, a smile which had not a single hint of kindness, "You'll see." Now Zaraki Kenpachi is the most feared captain of the Gotei 13, but for the first time ever, Kenpachi was terrified of the 4th division captain.

"Y-yes m-ma'am."

He twitched before sitting down on one of the horses. Unohana smiled before sitting behind him. She sat and gave Kenpachi a wink.

"We're quite similar to heaven and hell, aren't we?"

Kenpachi gave her a rather strange look before giving a gulp.

"Which ones heaven and which ones hell?"


	17. My Best Friend's Girl

**Ukitake and Nanao**

"Um..." Ukitake began, staring unsurely at the girl sitting across it. He sighed and rubbed his head, "Look, I know that this is pretty strange but..." they stared at each other before looking down.

"Let's try not to think about Kyoraku ok?"

Nanao went scarlet red, "W-what? Who said I was thinking about that stupid moron!" she shook her head and stared at her lap. Ukitake smiled. "Oh come now, admit it, you like him too." She gave a small twitch. "No! I don't! How could you even think that?" she fidgeted as she looked up at him. "Ah..." Ukitake smiled. "You're the in denial type aren't you, Nanao-san?" her blush deepened.

"I don't want to think about what that fool is doing! Let's just leave it at that."

Ukitake chuckled quietly to himself. He decided to leave the poor vice captain alone. They sat in silence before he began to cough.

"Oh! I'm so so-cough-rry It seems that I've for-cough-gotten to take my –cough- medicine..."

"Are you okay, Ukitake-taichou?"

"Y-ye- COUGH!"

Nanao shrieked as Ukitake coughed blood onto her outfit. She stood there motionless. Ukitake stood back up and wiped the blood of his face. "Ah, are you oka- Oh my." He went wide eyed as a huge red stain was forming on Nanao's outfit. He went scarlet as he looked away. "I-I'm sorry."


	18. Candy girl

**Byakuya and Yachiru**

"BYA-KUN~~~~"

The sixth division captain rolled his eyes. "Please, Yachiru, get off me, NOW." He threatened, twitching as the pink haired girl tugged on his hair.

"You have such pretty hair, Bya-kun! Ken-chan's hair is all painful and spiky, it's very uncomfortable! Sometimes I get scratched by sitting on him! Though I have to say my favourite person to sit on is Baldy 'cuz he ain't got no hair!" she giggled rather loudly before jumping onto Byakuya's head (Much to his annoyance), "OOO! BYA-KUN! A CANDY STORE! CAN WE GO IN? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE-" The usually cool and collected captain groaned and shook his head.

"No. Leave me alone."

"WHY? IS THAT HOW YOU THREAT YOUR DATE? WAHH!"

Everyone who passed by stared at the strange sight of a pink haired child bawling her eyes out whie the man stood there ignoring her wishes. Byakuya's eyes couldn't stop twitching. After a few moments, he grabbed her by the wrist before dragging her into the stall.

"Ah! Welcome! Welcome!" greeted the man at the counter, he looked approximately fifty two years old.

Byakuya nodded at him and turned to the girl. "You may choose whatever you want, just so long as you don't disturb me later." The minute he had finished his sentence Yachiru had already bolted to the candy stand. After a few moments she came back with a whole sack. He simply took it and placed it onto the counter.

"I'll be taking this please."

The elderly man stared at him, bewildered. He took the sack and weighed it. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he read the weight.

"1450 grams... That would be $ 57.90, sir."

Byakuya wipped out his wallet and threw the money onto the counter. The elderly man smiled.

"You're very nice to buy all this candy for your daughter."

"She's not my daughter."

"Sister?"

"No."

"Nephew?"

"No."

"Cousin?"

"No, she's my date."

The man didn't say anything for awhile. He glanced at the two, his eyes grew bigger. He turned.

"Wonderful."

"I'm not a pedophile. This is an order from my boss to take her."

The man's expression softened, "Ah, Oh I get it, she's close to your boss and all so you're taking her out for a day right?" Byakuya made a face.

"You could say that."

"Oh good, because I was very close to calling the police."


	19. Killing Is Not Necessary

**Soi Fon and Urahara**

"I like your dress."

Soi Fon went bright red and grabbed her shoulders, trying to show off less skin. _'This is for Yoruichi-sama, for Yoruichi-sama! You can do this, Soi Fon, You are a strong, independent woman, yes you can get through any-'_ she jumped as Urahara began to chuckle. "Come on Soi Fon, why don't you like me?"

"..."

"So? Why don't you like me Soi Fon?"

"..."

"Soi fo-"

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WILL YOU SHUT UP!"

"Hmm..." he stroked his chin, "I'm not so sure if that can happen."

"..."

"Um... Soi Fon? You're twitching."

"Excuse me, but I have to go to the bathroom."

"Sure! I'll be waiting out here!

-THREE HOURS LATER-

"Ahh, Where is she? The mall's going to close soon." Urahara rubbed his neck.

He watched as more people exited the building. He led out a sigh before getting up, he had no choice.

He was going into the girl's bathroom.

He waited as a girl made her way out the bathroom; after she had left he poked his head in, making sure no one was left. He snuck in and pushed the door to the cubicles open.

"Soi Fon? Where are you Soi Fon?"

He stopped in his tracks. Not a sound. There wasn't anyone in any of the cubicles. He stopped. After a few moments he looked up to be greeted by Soi Fon, falling from the ceiling.

"EAT THIS YOU GAYTARD!"

Urahara shrieked as Soi Fon kicked him into one of the cubicles, locking it with at least a dozen locks. "YOU'RE NEVER GONNA COME OUTTA THIS, YOU HERE ME? NEVER!" Urahara blinked as he heard the sound of Soi Fon's footsteps fade away. He led out a sigh and sat down on the toilet bowl.

"I haven't even eaten yet."


	20. My Drunken Partner

**Matsumoto and Kyoraku**

"Two more glasses!" Kyoraku demanded, his vision now blurred.

Matsumoto, who surprisingly had not taken a single drop of sake the whole night, was staring at Kyoraku with a rather annoyed expression.

"Um... Don't you think that's a bit too much, Shunsui?" she asked in a rather bored tone.

"NO! If this is what it takes for me to forget about the fact that my best friend and the love of my life are now on a date, then so be it!" He took another large amount of sake and poured it into his mouth.

"You are a failure, Shunsui." Matsumoto sighed, her eyelids drooping. It was already twelve in the morning. Matsumoto wanted to go home, but Kyoraku wasn't letting her.

"I must save my precious Nanao-chan from the evil, coughing dragon! Or not the world is over!" He ranted, shaking his fist in the air. Matsumoto rolled her eyes.

"Don't you think you're overreacting just a _little_ bit?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"NO!"

He pounded the table, "TWO MORE GLASSES! WHERE'S MY TWO GLASSES?" He ordered, clearly drunk.

Matsumoto raised a brow, _'Do I really act like that when I'm drunk?'_ she shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. She sighed as Kyoraku continued to slam the table, screaming about Nanao and Ukitake, scaring the waitress.


	21. 69 Cats

**Hisagi and Yoruichi**

"Ah! Look Hisagi!" Yoruichi exclaimed, tugging Hisagi by the sleeve. The vice captain raised a brow, "What is it, Yoruichi-san? What are you looking at?" he asked. Yoruichi gave a loud laugh and pointed at a corner.

"Look! Look! Look at that sight! You don't see that everyday now do you? It's hilarious!" Yoruichi giggled. Hitsugaya followed her gaze and to where she was pointing. His jaw nearly dropped as he saw a herd of kittens. He twitched, "W-where... where the HELL did all these kittens come from?" Yoruichi stroked her chin, "No idea, their mother must have abandoned them." Yoruichi ran to the kittens and crouched down, purring to them. Hisagi smiled and followed her. He crouched down next to her and raised an eyebrow.

"They all seem to like you a lot."

"Nah, it's just you."

"Well, you're a cat ain't you? You should be able to talk to them and all."

"Oh," Yoruichi punched him in the shoulder, "So just 'cuz I'm a cat I HAVE to be able to mother them and all?"

Hisagi shrugged his shoulders.

Yoruichi folded her legs and began to play with one of the kittens ears.

"They're all rather lonely."

Hisagi sat next to her and rested his chin on his knees. Yoruichi started to count all the kittens that they were surrounded by. After she finished she smiled. Hisagi raised an eyebrow.

"What? How many are there?"

"There are sixty-nine cats here."

The both of them stared at each other for awhile before falling to the floor laughing.


	22. About the Humans

**What the humans did on that day**

"TATSUKI-CHAN!" squealed a busty chestnut haired girl. Tatsuki laughed, "Ohio, Orihime." She smiled. Orihime ran to her friend and smiled. She reached into her sling bag and brought out a box of chocolates.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Tatsuki-chan!"

Tatsuki laughed, "Ah, thank you, Orihime. I'm sorry but I didn't get you anything..." The tom boy smiled.

"I was planning to give the other Valentine's chocolate I made to Kurosaki-kun but..."

Tatsuki raised an eyebrow.

"He... I think he's with Kuchiki-san..."

She shrugged her shoulders. She knew about Orihime's feelings for Ichigo and how Ichigo felt about Rukia, Tatsuki kept her mouth shut as her friend gazed off into the distance.

"Um, Earth to Orihime?" she said, waving her hand in front of her friends face.

She blinked and laughed, rubbing the back of her head, "Ahaha, sorry, I was just day dreaming, do you want to go to the diner I read about the other day?" she asked, giving her usual bubbly smile.

Tatsuki returned it before nodding.

"Sure, let's go!"

Ishida was sewing a shirt while Chad was playing his guitar. Chad gave Ishida a glance.

"What are you doing Ishida?" he asked, turning to the quincy.

Ishida gave a smile, a twinkle started to appear in his eyes.

"Ah! I'm glad you asked Sado-kun! This is a present I'm making for Inoue-san, isn't it wonderful?" he asked, smiling so wide it was stretching to his ears. Chad couldn't help but sweatdrop as he examined the outfit Ishida made for Orihime. It had floral patterns everywhere, in the middle a bunch of roses spelled out, "Happy Valentine's Day Orihime!" Chad rubbed his neck.

"It's beautiful."


	23. Hueco Mundo Suprise

"Aizen! Aizen!" Aizen turned as Ichimaru came running to him.

"Did you know that it's Valentine's Day today? It's a human festive where the humans give their loved ones presents and stuff! The Soul Society is celebrating it with a matchmaking event." Aizen raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? Let me guess, Hinamori is with Hitsugaya, am I right?" Ichimaru shook his head.

"No, apparently she's with the ryoka boy."

Aizen made an 'ah' sound and nodded. Ichimaru followed close behind him. "I sent Rangiku a present." His superior glanced at him, "And? What did she do?" The fox eyed former captain rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well..."

_Dear Gin,_

_Don't talk to me. Don't even think of me. Or I'll kill you. Leave me alone. Piss of you fox eyed gay lord. And I hate the present you got me. I have enough brushes dumbass._

He sighed at the memory of Matsumoto's letter. "I bet she was high on sake when she wrote that." Aizen gave a small smile. "It looks like our little minions have found out about the holiday.

"Yo! Did you guys know today's a human festive where you give your loved ones presents?" yelled Yammy, digging his ears. Stark groaned, "PAH! As if I care about some shitty woman's festive, it's so not manly!" Harribel gave him a rather strange look and rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you actually complain about not getting enough girls." She ignored the deadly glare he gave her. Grimmjow's eyes shot open (he was taking a short nap), "Presents? Loved ones?" He sat up.

"Wait... can I give presents to someone I _hate_ too?" excitement was rising in him.

"Don't be stupid Grimmjow." Said Ulquiorra, taking a sip of his tea.

"Oh shut up," he rolled his eyes, "you're probably all over that chick with the big boobs. What's her name? Ohime? Orhyme? Some stupid name.." Grimmjow scratched his head. Ulquiorra blinked before taking another sip of his tea.

"Moron."

Rukia ran down as the doorbell rang. She opened the door to find a package at the doorstep.

"Eh? A present?" she bent down and stared at the card.

"It says it's for Ichigo." she said.

Rukia stood back up. As she was about to open the wrapping, a figure suddenly jumped in front of her, grabbing her by the shoulders. "NO! THAT'S NOT FOR YOU!" Rukia raised an eyebrow, trying to look at the persons face, it was covered by his hoodie. She cocked her head to the side. "Who might you be?" The figures hand made a small twitch. Ichigo came running down.

"Oi! Midget! What are you doing? You better get changed, Toushiro's coming soon." He stopped as he stared at the figure.

"Hello?"

The figure gave a small cough and grabbed the present from Rukia's hands. "Um, I'll be going now!" he ran and dove into the bushes.

Grimmjow pulled of his hoodie and panted. "What the hell! That chick ruined my suprise for Ichigo! I'm gonna kill someone..." he sighed before unwrapping the parcel. He opened the package to be greeted by a huge boxing glove punching him in the face.

Orihime raised an eyebrow as she found a present on her table, she picked it up and a card with the word "To: Woman" was attached to it. Orihime raised an eyebrow. She opened it to find a necklace made of a fragment of a hollow mask. She scratched her head.

"Who's this from?"

She found a card underneath and read it.

_Dear woman,_

_I've taken a very strange interest in you lately. You are a very interesting woman. For a human. I hope to see more of you. This is a fragment I knocked off of Yammy's mask the other day. Please keep it. Happy Valentine's Day._

_Love?_

_Ulquiorra Cifer._

Orihime stared at it for awhile before a small smile and blush appeared on her.

**Hey guys! I'm sad to say that was my last chapter... yes, this is the end of Tangled Web! Don't worry, watch out for my next story, an Ichiruki one! Watch out people! HEHE. Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing every chapter: AmuletMisty, mysterious unknown, sukiamaya, HyourinmaruIce, Kicyslawa, StarPrincess99, Deindene and others! I LOVE YOU ALL! SO LONG! **


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